What’s the biggest challenge of covering an event like the Oscars?
The biggest challenge is to cover it broadly while also trying to eke out unique and exclusive content for our members. We do that through great interviews, interesting stories ahead of the event and getting different storylines from a red carpet that is overflowing with media.
For example, film writer Jake Coyle wrote a critical analysis about the dearth of racial diversity among nominees once again, while Sandy Cohen looked at the gains being made by black female directors in the wake of “Selma” director Ava DuVernay’s success. These are just a couple of the stories that have been highlights of our Oscar prep. Coyle also took a smart look at how the timing of a film’s release affects nominations and film writer Lindsey Bahr examined how playing someone with an affliction seems to give an actor a leg up in the race. We don’t just rely on our entertainment team: AP writers around the world have contributed to key enterprise leading up to the big day.
How does AP approach entertainment coverage differently than other media outlets?
We’ve been covering entertainment for decades, but our approach has certainly evolved. Today, we have entertainment staff around the globe and are even quicker with our coverage and approach from a multiformat angle, including our video team. We have an additional boost from Invision, our celebrity commercial photo agency. Because of our worldwide reach, the AP has a unique ability to cover events like no other, and because of its varied membership, we report on a wide and diverse swath of entertainment. But what continues to make us stand out is our high standard of journalism.
How does AP manage to land major scoops on such highly competitive beats?
Our journalism speaks for itself, and we’ve developed great sources who, in turn, have come to us as a trusted and reliable place to break news, such as Whitney Houston’s death, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s nuptials, and more recently, word that Harper Lee was finally releasing a second book. We have excellent journalists who carefully cultivate their beats to land such scoops, and the reputation of AP helps in securing them because the industry knows that we are trusted and have worldwide reach that is second to none.
You started your career covering state news in the Albany, New York, bureau. How did that experience prepare you for covering entertainment?
I also covered college and high school sports and just general spot news. What it taught me was to keep a laser focus on the news of the story and not get caught up in the spin. I also was able to take the basics of covering news and apply it to celebrity reporting. At the end of the day, people want to read an entertaining story, but they want to be informed and learn something that they didn’t know before. That’s my goal when it comes to entertainment reporting.
Who has been the most interesting person you’ve ever interviewed?
Prince. I’ve interviewed him three times, most recently last fall at Paisley Park. Each time I could not record it, and he didn’t want me to take notes for part of it the last time. I spent hours with him but wished for more because he was so smart and had so much knowledge. I could do dozens of stories on him and wish I could!
The AP’s live coverage of the red carpet and Governors Ball after-party will be hosted by entertainment correspondent XiXi Yang. It will begin at 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 22.
Learn more about AP entertainment coverage, which is also available via AP Mobile, the award-winning mobile app. Download the app on iTunes or Google Play.
Follow Moody (@nekesamumbi) and her team (@APEntertainment) on Twitter.
