First full-time Taylor Swift reporter hired at US media company Gannett
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Television producer Bryan West’s duties will include exploring pop star Taylor Swift’s influence on music, business and social issues.
PHOTO: BRYANWESTTV/INSTAGRAM
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Sorry, Swifties, but applications for the position of the first full-time Taylor Swift reporter
Mr West, 35, a television producer with two Emmy awards, “emerged as the standout choice from a pool of hundreds of applicants”, said Nashville daily The Tennessean on Monday.
In September, Gannett, the biggest newspaper chain in the United States, posted the job opening for its The Tennessean and USA Today titles.
Mr West described himself as a “one-man band” in his five-minute video application posted by The Tennessean.
He has his own cameras, lighting, tripods and audio equipment, which makes it easy for him to conduct interviews and produce work quickly.
“I may be a huge Swiftie, but I can report on Taylor objectively,” said Mr West, who added that he met the American billionaire pop star
“Our ears touched at a meet-and-greet, and I thought, for a second, ‘I could be straight’,” he said.
He also highlighted how he is one of the 100 accounts that the official Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour Instagram account follows. The Eras Tour is an ongoing world concert tour, with the singer due to perform six shows in Singapore
Mr West’s duties will include exploring Swift’s influence on music, business and social issues. He will also report on the singer’s tour stops and album releases, among other things.
“I think this job is to highlight her global and societal impact,” he said in an article by The Tennessean on Monday. “She keeps breaking her own records.”
Mr Michael A. Anastasi, Gannett’s vice-president of local news and editor of The Tennessean, said Swift is “a singular cultural force who is shaping our world in an arguably unprecedented fashion”.
He added: “Chronicling her story, her impact, her influence takes unique expertise and experience, and we’re confident Bryan is the right journalist for this moment.”
