Arts & Entertainment Journalism

A look at early Broadcast Journalism at ABC Studios. 

The Beginning of Arts and Entertainment

Although minimal, the earliest roots of arts journalism can be traced to Benjamin Harris's Public Occurrences Both Foreign and Domestic. Additionally, early dedicated art sections emerged in the 1770s in several London newspapers like the Morning Chronicle. 

18th Century Literary Journals 

A photo of the Morning Chronicle in London. 

Literary journals began to reach a large audience in the 18th century. In 1696, the Galleria Di Minerva was first published in Venice. They covered current events, art, and culture. These early publications set the template for critical arts writing, comprising reviews, commentary, and cultural debate. This occurred way before modern newspapers created a dedicated entertainment section. 

19th Century: Criticism Goes Mainstream 

The 1831 Journal L'ariste featured exhibitions of contemporary art and art criticism. By the late 1800s, they departmentalized their content into labeled sections, which made it easier for readers to find subjects of interest. This became a more popular approach newspapers took on by the 1890s. This is where we finally saw the arts and culture as a recognized section. 

Hollywood Era (1920)

Entertainment journalism started alongside the rise of Hollywood. As films, celebrities, and actors emerged, newspapers and magazines began to write about them, due to increasing demand. In newspapers and magazines, there were columns dedicated to the lives of celebrities and the latest developments in the entertainment world. Entertainment journalism did not only focus on film, but also on theater shows. Newspapers covered Broadway openings, jazz clubs, and Hollywood gossip. Popular magazines founded in the decade included Time (1923) and Vanity Fair. 

The Golden Age of Entertainment Journalism 

Walter Winchell was the original architect of modern journalism gossip. He began writing on Broadway for the New York Daily Mirror, which became the first gossip column, and would make his radio debut over WABC. The crossover from print to radio was extremely important for entertainment journalism, as something you read transformed into something you listened to. Winchell used his political, entertainment, and social connections to get the insider scoop, and then he would either publish in his column or try to accumulate more power. Winchell was very bold in his columns, leaving NOTHING off limits. Gossip, sex, affairs-you name it, he wrote it, making him known to be "the most feared journalist." 

Hedda Hopper (left) and Louella Parsons (right)

Another notable figure during this time was Louella Parsons, who began her first movie gossip column for the Chicago Record Herald, but soon later she would become the most powerful person in Hollywood, demanding and receiving the inside scoop in the movie business. Soon, Parsons' friend and previous actress Hedda Hopper was hired to write a competing column. The two would become enemies, but both held Hollywood in the palm of their hands, making and ruining numerous stars' careers.

During the 1930s and 1940s Golden Age, we saw a pour of insider scoops of actors and actresses and behind the scenes of films. Louella Parsons' show Hollywood Hotel debuted on CBS in October 1934. She surmounted the costly broadcast fees by inducing top film stars to appear on her program for free. The success of the show established Hollywood as a major center of radio production, and by the start of the 1940s, most of the best-known radio shows came from Hollywood. 

Celebrity Journalism and Tabloid Era 

 

The launch of People in the 1970s helped bring celebrity reporting to mainstream media, spawning similar publications such as US Weekly and Entertainment Tonight. Entertainment Tonight, which premiered in 1981, was the first national and daily television program devoted to entertainment news. translating the gossip column format into a fast-paced nightly broadcast with red carpet footage, studio interviews, and breaking celebrity news. This would also go on to create similar shows such as Access Hollywood and Extra. 

A photo from the premier of
Entertainment Tonight 

Overall, entertainment journalism exists to connect audiences to the stories, artists, and spectacles that define their time. As long as people care about culture, there will be journalists to cover it — and audiences hungry to read, watch, and share every word.