1. Arts and Entertainment Journalists

2. Relevant Terms to
Consider
Journalism
The collection and editing of news for presentation through the
media
Discussion:
Considering the definition of journalism above, answer the following
questions about journalists:
1. What is a journalist?
2. What does he or she do?
3. Why is his or her job important?
4. What is an arts and entertainment journalist?
5. What do they contribute to the news media?

3. Post-Discussion
Reflection
Why are arts and entertainment journalists
important?
In Journalism, this question is answered very clearly and
eloquently.
“This occupational group within journalism is worthy of study
because of its distinctive professional and cultural role: while
arts journalists share aspects of their professional cultures
with other newsworkers, their work is intrinsically linked to
the project of improving „public appreciation of the arts‟”
(Harries 620).

4. Jobs for Arts & Entertainment
Journalists
Art Editor/ Editor-In-Chief
A person responsible for the editorial aspects of publication; the person
who determines the final content of a text (especially of a newspaper or
magazine)
This person is responsible for overlooking all of the content published in or on their particular form of media.
They will choose the best stories, reviews, and photographs for the publication and decide how they are
arranged. .

5. Jobs for Arts & Entertainment
Journalists
Critic
One who expresses a reasoned opinion on any matter
especially involving a judgment of its value, truth,
righteousness, beauty, or technique
One who engages often professionally in the analysis,
evaluation, or appreciation of works of art or artistic
performances
An arts and entertainment critic closely
observes art, movies, theater, music, video
games, dance, television, and books and
writes either positive or negative review for a
publication. They are expected to provide
background information as well as critiques.

6. Jobs for Arts & Entertainment
Journalists
Photographer
A person who takes photographs, either as a hobby or as
a profession
Paparazzo
A freelance photographer who pursues celebrities trying
to take candid photographs of them to sell to newspapers
or magazines

7. Jobs for Arts & Entertainment
Journalists
Reporter
A person employed by a newspaper, magazine, or
television company to gather and report news
An arts and entertainment reporter is
responsible for jobs assigned to more
general types of journalists, such as
interviewing sources and creating news
stories and gathering all relevant
pictures, video, audio. They will simply
be focused more on issues of culture
more so than other journalists.

8. Jobs for Arts & Entertainment
Journalists
Freelance
A person who pursues a profession without a long-term
commitment to any one employer
While some arts and entertainment journalists
are employed by a specific organization, many
choose to leave their options open and submit
their work to different publications. There are
freelance journalists, photographers,
paparazzi, and critics in arts and entertainment
media.

9. Standing Out:
What makes arts and entertainment journalists different?
“Arts reporters…do not fit comfortably into the professional category of the journalist” (Harries 623).
Journalists are expected to deliver the news, truthfully and objectively, to their audience. Arts
and entertainment journalists are held to the same standard to a certain extent. However, in
many cases, arts and entertainment journalists cannot be objective in their coverage. For
example, in order to review a film, a critic needs to form an opinion about that film. Opinion is
exactly what most journalists try to avoid, but arts and entertainment journalists are allowed
much more leeway when it comes to being objectivity because their job REQIRES opinion.
According to Journalism, their “professional identity is tied to their ability to pass judgment on
cultural products, and their role in mediating the arts” (Harries 622).
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 and entertainment journalists tend to separate
themselves from other reporters in media.
From Journalism:
• “…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‟”
(Harries 626).

10. Authority
Because arts and entertainment journalists are allowed to be less objective, some other journalists do not
value their work. In an article in The Arizona Republic, Columbia University‟s National Arts Journalism
program‟s deputy director Andras Szanto said, “My job, and the job of those I work with, is to remind the
industry that the arts are hard news…Often they‟re thought of as what your wife and children do on the
weekend.” Even though “the authority of critics often hangs in the balance, journalistic authority generally
holds firm” (Harries 624).
• What determines “authority”?
• Size of audience
• Journalistic platform
• Passion for the subject
• Education on the subject; specializing (i.e. a degree)
Therefore, arts and entertainment reporters who work for a major news organization will often have more
authority because their audience is larger. They will also be expected to have more education on the
subject then, say, an entertainment blogger.
In the workplace, “high culture arts critics occupy higher rungs of the newsroom hierarchy, and are also
viewed as inherently more authoritative and therefore able to pass judgment on the object of their criticism”
(Harries 622).

11. Advertising: Effects on Critics
Look at the following excerpts to see how the need for advertising sometimes impacts arts and entertainment
journalists.
From a Newsweek article:
“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."

12. A Journalist‟s Reflection on
Working in Arts and Entertainment
“Arts journalists are always at the bottom of the
pecking order. This order is determined by funding
and space. Sport gets pages and pages of football
story after football story. The arts journalist gets next
to nothing. If I am traveling somewhere, the paper
won‟t pay; our funding comes from symphony
orchestras or opera companies, but if a sports
reporter wants to go and cover yet another football
story, it‟s „OK, here‟s £1000!‟ It‟s disgusting how the
arts are treated by the press.”
- Wilfred, Freelance Music Critic

13. 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.