1. A system comprising: a memory for storing machine readable instructions; and a processing unit for accessing the memory and executing the machine readable instructions, the processing unit comprising a processor core, the machine readable instructions comprising: an automation client to facilitate managing media operations, the automation client comprising a graphical user interface (GUI) generator to provide a GUI that includes a plurality of playlists derived from abstracted media data, the plurality of playlists being presented concurrently in a graphical framework within which each of the plurality of playlists is programmed to operate in a selected mode of operation, in response to a user input; wherein the graphical framework outputs a given playlist of the plurality of playlists in one of a list view and a timeline view, wherein the given playlist includes a plurality of events that each correspond to a scheduled broadcast media event and each of the plurality of events is associated with a set of icons that represent features of each respective event, wherein a given icon of the set icons for each respective event represents a status of the respective event in the given playlist.