In the Oct. 12 issue of entertainment magazine “Steppin’ Out,” actress Tara Reid said, “I think there must be a journalist school where students are taught how to kill Tara Reid.”
Although Reid’s statement may be slightly exaggerated, it may also contain some truth. The popularity of celebrity journalism is growing some college courses are reflecting the change.
Celebrity journalism has taken an important role in the world of communication. According to the Magazine Publishers of America, more than 40 percent of American magazine covers featured celebrities in 2004 and “People Weekly” topped “Newsweek’s” circulation by more than 500,000 for the first half of 2005. Schools and universities worldwide, including Syracuse University in New York and noSWeat journalism training in London, are responding by offering celebrity journalism courses. If students and instructors show enough interest, a celebrity journalism course could be a possibility for the University of Oregon.
Bill Morrill, career services coordinator for the School of Journalism and Communication, said a celebrity journalism course would be a great addition to the school’s current course offerings.
“You have to know the right people and how to work with publicists … if you want to interview (celebrities,)” he said. “I don’t know directly of any classes here that teach those skills.”
But, Morrill said, starting a new class is a difficult process with many steps. An instructor must come up with a class proposal and course plan to be approved by several entities, including the dean, before it can become a viable course. Because new classes must be planned and proposed by instructors, Morrill said, the probability of it happening is low unless students express interest to their professors.
Tim Gleason, dean of the journalism school, offered tentative support for a class at the University, saying “I would listen to the faculty members. I’d be very interested to see if it would fit in to what we offer.”
Gleason agreed with Morrill that students interested in celebrity journalism need special skills.
“Celebrity journalists are an arm of the … publicity machine (and they) work very closely with publicists. Aside from the basic journalism skills … you have got to be pretty aggressive and tenacious,” Gleason said. “(Celebrity journalists) are very good writers, very good interviewers, very focused, and (the students interested) are among the hardest workers I know.”
Sean Daly, a Los Angeles correspondent for “People Weekly” who also teaches a celebrity journalism class at Syracuse University, said that celebrity journalism courses are a great way to show students how the industry works.
“It’s not like covering a fire,” he said. “You have to call up the publicist to get to the celebrity. It’s politics and you have to negotiate.”
Lorrie Lynch, an editor at “USA Weekend” and a celebrity journalism instructor at Central Michigan University, said that her course teaches skills that students wouldn’t get in regular journalism classes. Her class focuses on an in-depth knowledge of networking, dealing with publicists, managing contacts books, acquiring and maintaining a place in the showbiz circuit, red carpet positioning and formulating new questions that get unique and quick answers from celebrities.
Not all instructors agree that students would benefit from such courses, however.
University journalism instructor Mark Blaine said it would be difficult to justify how a celebrity journalism course would be different than what the school already offers.
The course “would probably generate a lot of student interest … (but) we would be repackaging something we already do,” he said. “We don’t offer a cop journalism class or public affairs journalism.”
Covering the fabulous lives of the rich and famous
Daily Emerald
October 31, 2006
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