Arts and Entertainment Journalists

Arts and Entertainment Journalists

Arts and entertainment journalists are different from most other types of journalists because they are allowed more expressive freedoms. Unlike most people in other fields of journalism, arts and entertainment reporters are allowed and encouraged to make interpretations and form opinions about what they report on.

“…arts reporters elevated themselves above the regular news journalist, suggesting that they must be able to not only write in an

informed manner, but also ‘translate their passion and knowledge in a way that will both interest and inspire audiences/readers’” (626)

Source for information on arts and entertainment journalists

Culture of Critics

• “Their professional identity is tied to their ability to pass judgment on cultural products, and their role in mediating the arts” (622).

• “Arts reporters…do not fit comfortably into the professional category of the journalist” (623)

• Three major “subprofessions”• Arts journalist (local and national)• Arts editor• Freelance critic

Culture of Critics Continued

• “although the authority of critics often hangs in the balance, journalistic authority generally holds firm” (624)

• What determines “authority”?• Size of audience• Journalistic platform• Passion for the subject• Education on the subject; specializing (ie a

degree)

Advertising: Effects on Critics

“The mass media exist for only two reasons. One is that people read us or watch us; the other is that people and companies use us to advertise. These are, of course, connected. If people don't read or watch us, advertisers won't use us. But if advertisers don't use us--for whatever reason--then we will lose our audiences. Advertising pays the bills. Newspapers, for example, receive 70 to 80 percent of their revenues from ads (circulation is most of the rest). If ads evaporate, the mass media won't be able to afford the programs and news staffs that attract audiences.”

Personal narrative from freelance journalist:

"The problem is that a lot of editors see criticism as an adjunct of marketing. They're happy only when it's a positive review, because then you have a writer who's with the program," says Charles Taylor, a critic of film, books, and music who until recently contributed to the Newark Star-Ledger on a freelance basis. According to Taylor, he nearly lost one of his gigs (not his gig at the Star-Ledger, which was eliminated in a mass purge at the paper last year) because he wrote a critical review of a popular movie.“ There's a common point of view," he explains. "You don't assign a review to someone who doesn't like the work. Oh, really? That's publicity; that's not criticism. There is a pressure on the critic to be positive, and, in terms of print, at least, it's tied to advertising dollars."

Tabloid Entertainment Journalists: A Different Set of Ethics

“I was waiting in the checkout line at the market and on the cover of a tabloid was a picture of Kobe Bryant's accuser. Not exposing a rape victim is something we learn in Journalism 101.”

-Jeff Alan (author of “Responsible Journalism”) in Television Week

Picture Source

The Nature of Arts and Entertainment Journalism

• “When it comes to ethics in journalism, the ugly usually grabs the headlines.”

-Robert Leger in Quill

Lorne Manly (seen on the left), the entertainment editor of The New York Times answered viewers’ questions about entertainment coverage. An aspiring arts journalist asked for career advice, and Manly responded indicating the future for arts and entertainment journalists is bleak.

Possible research

• Leonardo DiCaprio interviews Bill Clinton