Machine generated contents note: Cover -- Series -- Pop Culture, Politics, and the News -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Why Pop Culture News Matters: Theorizing and Historicizing Entertainment Journalism as Political Communication -- 2. Progressing Hollywood: Left-Wing Entertainment Journalism and the Push for Diversity and Accountability -- 3. Pop Culture Warriors: Right-Wing Entertainment Journalism and the Fight against "Big Hollywood" -- 4. Hot Takes and Clickbait: The Impact of Commercialism on the Pop Culture-Politics Beat -- 5. Trending Outrage: How Social Media Impacts the Work of Journalists at the Pop Culture-Politics Nexus -- 6. Pop Culture News as a Bridge to Politics? Exploring the Audience Perspective -- 7. Assessing the Public Value of Journalism at the Pop Culture-Politics Nexus -- Notes -- References -- Index

In Pop Culture, Politics, and the News, Joel Penney explores how pop culture news has taken on an important role in contemporary political discourse. Through coverage of topics like Hollywood diversity, celebrity controversy, and "cancel culture" backlash, entertainment journalism has emerged as a key source of political information and commentary, providing audiences with an accessible lens into some of the most hot-button issues of our time. Yet due to the "clickbait" economics of the polarized digital news business, the quality of entertainment journalism is often compromised, and consequently, people view pop culture coverage as "soft news" with little substance or public value. --