How To Become A Media Relations Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a media relations manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Jamie Shaw,

Jody McBrien

If you are a master at media, a media relations manager may be a suitable role for you. As a media relations manager, your main responsibility is to develop, implement, and monitor strategies to increase brand awareness through media communications (e.g., print ads, social media, video content, etc.).

That said, your duties will typically involve overseeing the creation of digital and print materials, conducting market research to identify current trends, identify media opportunities, and coordinate the creation of various types of content. You will also have the ability to deny submissions and request do-overs as you see fit.

To become a media relations manager, you must have a degree in communication, journalism, public relations, or business. However, the first two are the most ideal for this role. More than that, you must have at least two to three years of industry experience to prove your credibility and competency in this line of work.

As a media relations manager, you can earn around $88,000 per year. Of course, job opportunities are most abundant in media companies, but you can also look for jobs in the technology and entertainment industries.

What general advice would you give to a media relations manager?

Jamie Shaw

Dominican University

Network. Network. Network. Get to know your colleagues at your new company once you get there. There are so many ways to do this, including just asking to set up 15-minute information interviews. Besides making relationships with others, which will help make work easier and more fun, understanding why and how a different department operates helps understand the whole organization. This will ultimately make you a better employee.

ScoreMedia Relations ManagerUS Average

Salary

6.7

Avg. Salary $86,031

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.7

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.42%

Asian 5.13%

Black or African American 6.02%

Hispanic or Latino 9.17%

Unknown 4.67%

White 74.60%

Gender

female 55.73%

male 44.27%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress level

8.7

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.4

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.8

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a media relations manager

Explore media relations manager education requirements

Most common media relations manager degrees

Bachelor's

82.4 %

Master's

11.1 %

Associate

4.0 %

Start to develop specific media relations manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Press Releases	17.44%
Strategic Communications	6.24%
External Communications	5.96%
Crisis Communications	5.32%
Web Content	4.95%

Complete relevant media relations manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New media relations managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a media relations manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real media relations manager resumes.

Research media relations manager duties and responsibilities

Hire, train and manage play-by-play broadcasters guaranteeing a professional and informative listening experience.
Direct corporate communications, publicity, media relations, crisis communications and serve as company spokesperson for major sports/entertainment venues.
Create and maintain the school s official Facebook page.
Help the college utilize social media (including Facebook) to engage alumni and current students.

Prepare your media relations manager resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your media relations manager resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a media relations manager resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable media relations manager resume templates

Build a professional media relations manager resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your media relations manager resume.