Wanted: Taylor Swift and Beyoncé journalists at America’s largest newspaper chain – National

Just a day after announcing it was looking for a reporter to cover all things Taylor Swift, America’s largest newspaper chain has released another niche reporting position, covering none other than Beyoncé.

According to the job postings, each writer will work primarily for the Tennessean newspaper and USA Today, but their content will be distributed throughout Gannett’s news channel.

Both Swift and Beyoncé have major world tours underway. Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour is set to wrap up next month, while Swift’s Eras Tour will continue through the end of 2024.

And while it’s not uncommon for newspaper chains to hire entertainment critics and music journalists, it’s not often that a reporter is assigned to cover a single artist.

However, both Beyoncé and Swift hold enormous cultural and economic influence and their fans – the Beyhive and Swifties respectively – are known to financially support entire cities when the artists come to town.

“At this point, Taylor Swift is basically her own economy,” said a Vanity Fair writer.

The impact of her tour was felt in every city she stopped in, filling stadiums, treating fans to a 44-song set list spanning her nearly two-decade career, and injecting millions of dollars into economies locals with the gravitas of his star power.

In a Federal Reserve report released in July, the agency found that “May was the highest month for hotel revenue in Philadelphia since the pandemic began, driven largely by an influx of guests for Taylor Swift concerts in the city.

Presenting just two shows in Colorado resulted in a $140 million increase in the state’s GDP for the year, according to a report from the Common Sense Institute.

“Taylor Swift’s entire U.S. tour could generate $4.6 billion in total consumer spending, more than the GDP of 35 countries,” the report said.

The qualifications for each Gannett job read the same, and each listing invites candidates with “a voice – but no bias” to throw their resumes into the ring. Recruitment will need to account not only for the details and highlights of each singer’s tours, but also their fan base, their impact on the world of music and business, and their cultural relevance.

Each job requires the journalist to also be willing to travel extensively.

And while the lists have excited many fans and aspiring journalists, there has also been quite a bit of blowback, with many pointing out Gannett’s numerous layoffs over the past few years, which included cutting 6 percent of its news division last December.

– with files from Kathryn Mannie of Global News

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