From Valnet Settlements to Salon Closing: A Dour Year End for Entertainment Journalism
The holiday season ain't looking great for our industry
“Journalism is Fucked and We’re All Doomed” is my ongoing column looking at issues affecting entertainment journalism writers.
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You might recall back at the beginning of the year I looked at the state of entertainment journalism. It included positives like the A.V. Club hiring Monica Castillo as their new film critic and Film Comment starting a physical magazine. It also included the continued awareness about the lack of jobs for women and BIPOC writers in this industry, as well as a whole mess of layoffs. But as the year comes to a close we enter that time of year where one expects things to look even more dour. This is usually the time where I expect to be stressed more as a freelancer. Q4 budgets are depleted and awards coverage are generally in-house assignments. It's also when one can expect more layoffs and site closures.
I specifically wanted to talk about two major events that happened last week affecting the entertainment writing community. What these things mean for entertainment journalism going forward? And do we see the midterms having any effect on the industry in general? All I can do is read the tea leaves, but if you have any predictions you can always leave them in the comments section below.