The guy who got the 'Taylor Swift reporter' job says it's no different than being a sports journalist

• Bryan West is USA Today and The Tennessean's new Taylor Swift reporter.
• The award-winning journalist thinks his new job isn't that unconventional.

Bryan West may have fulfilled his wildest dream of becoming a Taylor Swift reporter, but he doesn't think the role is that unconventional.

"I would say this position's no different than being a sports journalist who's a fan of the home team," West, 35, told Variety in an interview published on Monday.

"I just came from Phoenix, and all of the anchors there were wearing Diamondbacks gear, they want the Diamondbacks to win," said West, a former broadcast reporter from KPNX, an NBC affiliate in Phoenix.

USA Today and The Tennessean announced West's hiring on Monday. The outlets said in September that they were hiring a journalist to report exclusively on pop star Taylor Swift. As specified in the job listing, the role would work remotely and be paid between $40,000 and $100,000 a year.

West told Variety that in addition to being a fan of Swift, he also has the journalistic credentials for the job. He's won two Emmy Awards and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for his journalism, per his personal website.

Michael Anastasi, an editor at The Tennessean and a vice president of local news at the outlet's parent company Gannett, told Variety they "were very pleased with the caliber of the pool" of applicants. Anastasi said the job listing drew a wide range of applicants, from hardcore fans and influencers to seasoned journalists.

When asked how many people applied for the reporting position, a Gannett representative referred Insider to an earlier story by The Wall Street Journal.

The Journal's story, which was published in September, said Gannett received about 1,000 applications within two weeks for two positions they were hiring for — a Taylor Swift reporter and a Beyoncé reporter.

"But what we ended up with was someone who I think has the great balance between being a veteran journalist who has serious news chops and someone who understands everything about Taylor's world and the universe that he's stepping into," Anastasi told Variety.

Representatives for Anastasi did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.