Whether you’re a self-proclaimed “Swiftie” or not, Taylor Swift is a big deal. Her current Eras Tour, which is set to wrap in November—though Swift keeps adding more dates due to popular demand—is about to be the highest-grossing tour ever. Last night, she took home nine Video Music Awards, breaking yet another record. Today, she’s being memed left and right for just about every facial expression she made during the MTV event.
That’s all to say, there’s no shortage of “TayTay” news to be steadily devoured, and Swifties’ thirst for knowledge is insatiable—so much so that USA Today, which is owned by Gannett, is on the hunt for a Taylor Swift reporter to stay on top of the superstar’s every waking move. Yes, really. This is the stuff of wildest dreams.
This week, the publication posted the job listing seeking a talented individual to “capture the music and cultural impact of Taylor Swift.” That person should have an “undeniable thirst for all things Taylor Swift with a steady stream of content across multiple platforms,” according to the listing. “Seeing both the facts and the fury, the Taylor Swift reporter will identify why the pop star’s influence only expands, what her fan base stands for in pop culture, and the effect she has across the music and business worlds,” it continued.
If you think that’s overkill, well, you’re probably not alone. But there is simply no denying that the readers will show up—her loyal fans want to know as many details about her life as possible. There are Swift fan accounts on social media that track her moves and have hundreds of thousands of followers. There are even Taylor Swift classes kids can sign up for and college courses that analyze the songstress’ lyrics, all aiming to tap into her fan base.
Cashing in on overconsumption
Still, in a turbulent time for publishing, when record numbers of layoffs have taken place this year, some are floored that this opening is a necessary one—especially because Gannett let around 2,000 employees go last year. Trade group Ledger News Guild tweeted, “Local @Gannett newspapers don’t have enough reporters to cover the basic, daily, non-Taylor Swift news, but OK.”
But despite that, USA Today seems to feel that a Taylor Swift reporter is crucial in these passionate times, when overconsumption is more a need than a want. And the company is leaning into that mentality: As of today, they’re also looking for a Beyoncé reporter to keep track of all things Queen Bey.
It might just be good business: Swift sells. On average, her fans spent about $1,300 to see Eras Tour shows, and many spent far more. According to a Morning Consult survey from earlier this year, more than half of U.S. adults identify as being Swifties. And in these social media-driven days, when we like someone, we don’t just go to their concert once a year and maybe buy a T-shirt with their face on it. We need to know every detail of that person’s career, style, and personal relationships. We need to know their political leanings, what their facial expressions mean, and probably, what they’ve been eating—everything that a full-time reporter might stay on top of.
Call it normalized overdosing on anything we interpret as “good” (perhaps, as a reaction to so much of our media intake being terrible news?), but leaning hard into what we like is a deeply ingrained part of modern culture. This summer, we saw it take shape as Barbiemania, which took hold of grown adults who showed up to theaters wearing not just pink headbands, polo shirts, and skirts, but also holding Barbie clutches and licking Barbie lollipops. When that wasn’t enough, fans of the film filled their homes with Barbie-scented candles and their swimming pools with Barbie floats.
Enough is never enough . . . Until it is. Our culture of obsession is fierce. You could think of it as essentially the opposite of cancel culture, which is alive and well, too: Because when we like something, we really like it. But when we don’t, there’s almost never so much as a glimmer of salvation.
