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Gannett, the U.S.' largest newspaper chain, has recently hired a Taylor Swift reporter, Variety exclusively reported.
Bryan West, a 35-year-old journalist, has been hired for the position. He will report on all things Taylor Swift and Taylor Swift only. West will work out of The Tennessean's newsroom for USA Today.
A Swiftie's Wildest Dream
Gannett started the job search in September this year. Media types all over doubted whether it was a good idea to hire a reporter dedicated on covering Taylor Swift.
“I would say this position’s no different than being a sports journalist who’s a fan of the home team,” West said.
“I just came from Phoenix, and all of the anchors there were wearing Diamondbacks gear; they want the Diamondbacks to win. I’m just a fan of Taylor and I have followed her her whole career, but I also have that journalistic background: going to Northwestern, winning awards, working in newsrooms across the nation. I think that’s the fun of this job is that, yeah, you can talk Easter eggs, but it really is more of the seriousness, like the impact that she has on society and business and music,” he added.
Gannett VP of local news and The Tennessean editor Michael Anastasi stated, “We were very pleased with the caliber of the pool that we had.”
He continued, “I think if we ended up hiring five more people, we would have highly qualified candidates for all the positions. It ran the gamut from veteran hard-news reporters, including at least one very established White House reporter, to Swifties who have blogs and are influencers … and of course there were a number of fans who just were following their dreams and hoping to win the lottery. But what we ended up with was someone who I think has the great balance between being a veteran journalist who has serious news chops and someone who understands everything about Taylor’s world and the universe that he’s stepping into.”
Non-traditional position
“This is not a traditional ‘we’re going to write three print stories a week and draw a paycheck' type of beat. He’s going to be on video, going to be on social, going to be interacting with Swifties, and going to be out and about at tour stops, on red carpets, at the CMAs, wherever people are enjoying or reflecting on who Taylor Swift is. There’s no shortage of things to write,” Ben Goad, news director for The Tennessean and West's immediate supervisor, added.
Goad said that the position is much like a reporter with their own beat focusing on a single individual. However, he acknowledges that this is something new for the media company, “But also, I think, we’re taking a pretty bold step here, and I’m very optimistic for how it’s going to turn out.”
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West has confirmed that he will be attending CM Awards-related events in Nashville for his first week.
Serious journalist by day, die-hard Swiftie by night?
However, the question is: Can a die-hard Swiftie be able to objectively report on their idol? West answered this in his video submission: three Taylor Swift songs he can't stand, Stay Stay Stay, False God and It's Good to Have a Friend.
Journalists have questioned the validity of the position, with some calling it strictly for fanboys (or girls). Some have also said that this could seem insulting to serious news reporting especially with many journalist jobs have been cut.
Anastasi addressed this and said, “These aren’t positions that are supplanting other positions in our company. This is part of a very deliberate transformational strategy to become the company that we need to become to be growing, thriving and in position to serve all of our local communities across the country into the future.”
Taylor Swift doesn't do many interviews anymore so West's position doesn't guarantee him a one-on-one with the superstar. He does have a plan if he gets to sit down with her.
West said he would ask her how Swift recorded her heartbeat in Wildest Dreams.
