AND SO GANNETT’S JOURNEY TO “SAVE LOCAL JOURNALISM” BEGINS

Back in September, Gannett threatened to hire a fulltime reporter who would do nothing but cover all things Taylor Swift.

At the time, Gannett chief content officer Kristin Roberts was adamant: “This is how we save local journalism. This is what we need to do.”

Let the saving begin.

Gannett has now introduced us all to Bryan West, a 35-year-old former tv reporter from Arizona who just moved to Nashville for the sole purpose of keeping us up to date on all things Taylor.

He reportedly beat out well over a thousand other applicants for the job.

Can’t afford fact-checkers.

Can’t hire new reporters to cover city hall.

Can’t pay the reporters they do have a decent wage.

But you hunger for more Taylor news?

Gannett’s got it for you.

And in a nutshell, West himself summed up everything that’s wrong not just with his beat, but with journalism in general.

“I would say this position’s no different than being a sports journalist who’s a fan of the home team,” says West. “I just came from Phoenix, and all of the anchors there were wearing Diamondbacks gear; they want the Diamondbacks to win. I’m just a fan of Taylor and I have followed her her whole career.”

Thus obliterating the distinction between reporter and a cheerleader on the sidelines.

And he seems to want to be embarrassingly close with the subject of his…ummm….journalism

Listen, we have no beef with Taylor Swift.

Bless her for all the money she makes and records she sells and the literally earth-shaking concerts she puts on.

But this is gob-smackingly stupid.

One even might think it is a TV sweeps month stunt.

Except this time, it’s not TV.