(New York) Does a newspaper need reporters to exclusively follow Taylor Swift or Beyoncé? Yes, replies the Gannett group, owner of USA Todaywhose recruitment announcement aroused curiosity and criticism, but also revealed to what extent the two artists are cultural phenomena.
The press group, owner of more than 200 daily newspapers in the United States, has cut the number of editorial staff in recent years, and embodies the crisis facing the local press. Last December, it laid off another 6% of the 3,440 employees employed within its media division.
So when he discovered Gannett’s very serious ad for a “Taylor Swift Reporter” position, followed by another similar one for Beyoncé, journalist Brad Vidmar’s blood boiled.
“I guess this is a good time to remind Twitter that I’m the only full-time news reporter left at my paper, which was sold by Gannett in December,” he wrote on X.
His Burlington, Iowa, newspaper The Hawk Eye, was acquired in 2016 by the GateHouse publishing group, which absorbed Gannett in 2019 and took its name to become the largest newspaper group in the country. And at the end of 2022, Gannett resold The Hawk Eye.
Record tour
“They kept reducing the workforce, reducing them and reducing them again in all areas,” explains the 41-year-old journalist. “But, of course, now they need someone to cover Taylor Swift,” he quips.
According to Gannett, the two journalists will be employed by USA Today And The Tennesseanthe network news in Nashville, the capital of country music where Taylor Swift spent part of her life.
The future specialist of Taylor Swift, whose position will be added to the three music journalists of the Tennesseanwill be tasked with “capturing the excitement of his current tour,” which promises to exceed $1 billion in revenue for the first time in music history, “while providing thoughtful analysis of his music and of her career “.
Not enough to convince the New York branch of the NewsGuild press union, which summarized on local news 3. Hire a reporter Taylor Swift.”
PHOTO ANDREW HARNIK, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Beyonce
Telling America
“These positions are not created to the detriment of other jobs,” assures Gannett’s head of communications, Lark-Marie Anton, to AFP. She points out that since March, Gannett has recruited 225 other journalists and that more than a hundred positions are also open for applications.
Taylor Swift and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter are artists and businesswomen. Their work has enormous economic impact and societal importance that influences many sectors and our culture – they are shaping a generation.
Lark-Marie Anton, head of communications at Gannett
Founder and director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University, Robert Thompson also believed that “ [c’était] a joke” when he saw the ad.
But after careful consideration, he found that it would be “stupid to reject all of this out of hand.” According to him, it is an opportunity to “tell the story of America in the 21ste century through its most popular characters”.
Robert Thompson, however, understands the criticism in a context of budgetary restrictions for the local press.
He also predicts that these positions will not be the “dream” careers that some claim. On the one hand, because fans of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé are known to defend their idol tooth and nail and the slightest negative comment can trigger avalanches of criticism, even death threats, on social networks. On the other hand, because the worlds of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé are well guarded by those around them and difficult to penetrate.
Beyond the fans, “the eyes of the profession will be focused on these poor people when they are finally hired,” he emphasizes. “Their first paper should be really good. »