This is a part of an Wikipedia article about the Iranian Embassy siege in London:
"The SAS raid, televised live on a bank holiday evening, became a defining moment in British history and proved a career break for several journalists; it became the subject of multiple documentaries and works of fiction, including several films and television series."
"career break"
a period of time during which one chooses not to work, typically in order to bring up one's children or pursue other interests.
"I had taken a three-year career break to bring up my daughter"(source: Oxford Languages)
"break"
8. A sudden or marked change: a break in the weather.
(source:American Heritage® Dictionary)
"break"
10. An often sudden piece of luck, especially good luck: finally got the big break in life.(source:American Heritage® Dictionary)
"career break"
a period of time during which one chooses not to work, typically in order to bring up one's children or pursue other interests.
"I had taken a three-year career break to bring up my daughter"
The first definition doesn't make sense to me as this would be a time to not go on a break from work but to write about the events in the embassy. The second one seems probable. Is any one of them correct?
Best Answer
In this context, it is closest to sense 10.: "An often sudden piece of luck, especially good luck"
In particular, to "get a break in one's career" means to get a sudden massive advancement in career due to one particular event. We often use it with actors who are relatively unknown until they have one huge starring role, then their career is set and they're famous forever.
In this case, it means several relatively unknown journalists became famous because of their reporting on this siege.
The expression applies equally to any kind of major career advancement, not just fame.