Arts, Culture, and Entertainment Coverage

Abstract

Arts, culture, and entertainment coverage is a specialized type of journalism that engages with "the cultural public sphere" or "the cultural field." Scholars and journalists around the world use very different terms for this type of news coverage. Some terms designate specialized topical areas, for example, music journalism, fashion journalism, or film criticism while others are more inclusive, for example, arts journalism or cultural journalism. "Cultural journalism" is used here for two reasons. First, it has become an increasingly common term in recent scholarship. Second, it denotes a broader journalistic interpretation of the cultural field than "arts journalism" by reflecting the eclectic approach to culture in many newsrooms today. News media cover everything from the arts to popular culture and the entertainment industries and from celebrity culture to more sociocultural and politicized topics such as value and identity politics. Journalists who report on and debate these topics, either as permanent members of staff or as freelancers, are referred to as "cultural journalists." This term covers more traditional (all-round) reporters working with cultural news and critics and reviewers with a specialized expertise on particular cultural subfields.The lack of consensus with regard to terminology makes it difficult for practitioners and scholars to arrive at a clear definition and a shared understanding of the boundaries of cultural journalism. At the same time, this lack of consensus points to arts, culture, and entertainment coverage being a multifaceted type of journalism of great academic and newsroom potential.

The cultural journalist around the globe: A comparative study of characteristics, role perceptions, and perceived influences

“…These findings point to the cultural intermediary role of the beat having both publicist and commercial dimensions and thus to the societal potential of cultural journalism in a broader context (e.g. Kristensen, in press; Riegert et al, 2015).…”

“…Harries and Wahl-Jorgensen, 2007; Janssen et al, 2008; Szántó et al, 2004), ‘cultural journalism’ has become a common designation in recent years (e.g. Golin and Cardoso, 2009; Heikkilä et al, 2017; Jaakkola, 2015; Kersten and Janssen, 2017; Kristensen, in press), signaling a broader interpretation of the beat’s focus areas. The diverse terminology makes it difficult to gain a clear picture of the research field.…”

“…Given that cultural journalists have often been accused of running the errands of especially the cultural industries (Kristensen, in press), and are often characterized by low job stability, it is interesting to note that cultural journalists generally appear to feel many of the pressures in their work less strongly than other journalists do . This particularly applies to influences from the political context and procedural influences.…”

“…‘Cultural journalist’ is difficult to define. The literature lists countless definitions of the concept of ‘culture’, and scholarship uses a wide range of terms for the combination cultural journalists: arts journalists, cultural reporters, critics, and lifestyle journalists (for overviews, see Jaakkola, 2015; Kristensen, in press). What complicates matters further is the increasing blurring of the boundaries of the beat toward politics, entertainment, celebrity, and consumption (Kristensen and Riegert, 2017).…”

Content Analysis in the Research Field of Cultural Coverage

“…This classification has become established as a result of the organizational differentiation of editorial sectors in newspapers and other news outlets (Tuchman 1978;Forde 2003), in which "culture" has typically referred to anything that cannot be assigned to any other sections, such as "politics," "economy," or "international." Cultural coverage can be divided into arts, culture, and entertainment journalism (Kristensen 2019). Arts or cultural journalism is a specialized form of journalism with the most limited scope, with a focus on a limited area of an art form, such as literature or a certain type of music (e.g., classical music or a subgenre), typically published in the distinct section labeled "Arts and Culture," "Feuilleton," or simply "Culture."…”