Daily Newspaper divides people over job listing for Taylor Swift and Beyoncé Reporters.

The biggest U.S newspaper chain Gannett lists artist-based journalist roles for Taylor Swift and Beyoncé!

While it is essential to any media outlet to have different categories, rarely does a journalist get hired for artist-specific roles.

A Nashville based paper, The Tennessean, caused a divide among people over the job listing.

But why? according to online sources, the reason is simple, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé are influential.

First, the Taylor Swift listing said,

“The Taylor Swift reporter will identify why the pop star’s influence only expands, what her fanbase stands for in pop culture, and the effect she has across the music and business worlds.”

And for Beyoncé, the short of it being they want a reporter who would “capture” Queen Bey’s effect on society.

This is fine, but why restrict a professional in such a way? And would a journalist accept this permanently?

It doesn’t sound like it.

What people are saying about the job listings.

While some support the position, there are also many who don’t, resulting in conflicting points of view.

For example, journalists claimed that these roles may benefit the pop cultural influence in today’s media, they will also be detrimental to local news.

Rick Edmonds of the journalism think tank at Poynter Institute said,

“At a time when so much serious news and local reporting is being cut, it’s a decision to raise some questions about.”

However, Michael Anastasi, editor and vice president of The Tennessean denied the claims of pushing out local reporting.

“We’re not hiring a Taylor Swift reporter at the expense of other reporters.”

But is that the only issue here? No, this type of role may have long term consequences for the reporter and for The Tennessean.

What are the potential consequences of artist-specific roles?

Firstly, while they can guarantee that any article containing Taylor Swift or Beyoncé will be a hit, they need to remember the saying “too much of a good thing.”

Not only would the reporter’s scope be limited but often when something is heavily pushed on people, the people get bored and stop buying what they’re selling.

Likewise, that course of action would also take away from other artists and locals who may be doing newsworthy things.

But is it a risk worth taking?

Probably not. For the short term the artist-specific roles would probably be a boon for the outlet, but in the long term, this could end very badly for Gannett who owns The Tennessean.

Published by HOLR Magazine.