The biggest newspaper chain in the US has posted a couple of job adverts bound to whet the appetite of pop music buffs far and wide.
Gannett is looking for a Taylor Swift reporter and Beyoncé reporter.
The media firm which owns more than 200 daily papers is set to hire the two journalists through its brands USA Today and The Tennessean.
Those interested in the Swift role should be “an energetic writer, photographer and social media pro who can quench an undeniable thirst for all things Taylor Swift with a steady stream of content across multiple platforms”, according to the listing.
The job entails identifying why the Cruel Summer singer’s influence is ever-expanding, analysis of the Swiftie fan base, and the pop sensation’s global influence.
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For the Beyoncé role, the reporter should be proficient with text and video and must be able to capture the record-breaking Grammy recipient’s impact on society.
Both jobs require five years of newsroom experience and the ability to travel internationally, with a salary range of $21.63 to $50.87 (£17.31 to £40.71) per hour.
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However, the new positions have been met with criticism.
‘A culture of sameness’
US journalist trade union, NewsGuild, cited major redundancies at Gannett with 47% downsizing in the past three years. Last year alone the company cut about 6% of its roughly 3,440-person US media division.
Certain journalists have said the roles are cloaked in superfan behaviour.
One critic, Soraya Roberts, saying the coverage of such top artists leads to “a culture of sameness” at the expense of local arts stories.
Reporting on a star and one star only isn’t a novelty, though.
Suzy Exposito of the Los Angeles Times said she was an “unofficial” beat reporter for Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny in a previous role, spending the bulk of her time covering his activities compared to other topics.
Ms Exposito said: “His near-weekly output became really overwhelming, and it took away focus from a lot of other artists who were also making compelling work.”
Reasons behind the roles have been linked to reaching Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) targets as well as competing with social media fan accounts in terms of reporting celebrity news first.
Eric Grode, director of a journalism course at Syracuse University, said a reporter would have “a lot of good material to work with” especially given Swift’s influence.
He said a news outlet would gain a valuable asset if the reporter takes the job seriously and provides more than concert articles.
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There are not many celebrities with such overarching influence as Swift and Beyoncé.
Swift recently became the first female artist to hit 100 million monthly listeners on Spotify, while a university in Belgium announced it would launch a course dedicated to the singer – believed to be the first of its kind in Europe.
Meanwhile, Beyoncé’s songs traverse the ages, and having sold some 200 million records globally, she is one of the best-selling artists of all time.
The Crazy In Love icon went down in history this year after receiving her 32nd Grammy – the most ever.
