Entertainment Journalism: Its Rise and Future

Fifteen minutes before Entertainment Journalism: Its Rise and Future was scheduled to begin, 100 A RJI was already bursting with students and others eager to hear from Jann Carl, Kimberly Nordyke, Lindsay Powers, Leah Sanders and Kitty Bean Yancey. Jann Carl herself moved back tables so that the people cramming themselves into the back of the room could sit on the floor at the front of the room.

The panel started their discussion by introducing themselves and explaining how they got from graduating MU to where they are now, working for their respective publications and broadcasts. It was very interesting to me, as a freshman, to see what their perspectives were on getting into the job market. Any journalism majors know by now that the field can be difficult to break into. Lindsay Powers of Us Weekly, who graduated in 2004, said that she went to the Reynolds Alumni Center and printed out a list of all the alumni working in New York City. This just reiterates the point that everyone makes when it comes to breaking into the industry- who you know is everything. All the panelists spoke to the proliferation of Mizzou alums that they say are eager to help graduates get jobs.

The panelists also touched on the differences between entertainment journalism and hard news reporting. I found this event to be particularly enlightening since I want to go into a career in magazines and many magazine are driven by celebrities and entertainment journalism. It was cool to see someone that I’ve grown up watching on TV, Jann Carl, in person. This was by far by favorite Centennial event.

Advertisement