Riding the Pulse through Critical Entertainment Journalism: Ethnography of Film Critics

Abstract

"Due to limited access to education and job positions, film critics face structural gatekeeping in finding the role they play in the diverse public media representation of films and television. Based on unstructured interviews, email correspondence, and social media interaction between October and November 2020, this project highlights the hierarchical structure of entertainment journalism as well as the platforms on which it takes place. The ethnography focuses on nine freelance, permalance, and staff writers as well as editors who provided insight into the pressures of finding and maintaining one’s niche and relationships within the critical entertainment journalism industry."