Check the credits before the review

What does an arts and culture reporter cover?

An arts and culture reporter covers theater, books, film, music, museums and the people and businesses behind them. The beat mixes criticism, industry news and history, from openings and awards to sales figures and archives.

Confirm credits, dates and figures with a reference database or the organization that keeps the record. Trade groups publish useful data, but they speak for their members, so say who produced the number.

Start here

Arts news and museums

• ArtsJournal: Daily roundup of arts stories covering dance, music, theater, visual arts, media and ideas. Also hosts arts blogs and newsletters.
• Museum.com: Global museum directory with news and audio guides. Museums supply their own pages, so confirm details with the museum.

Theater

Use the databases to check credits and dates. Use the trade press for news, and attribute grosses and attendance figures to whoever released them.

• Internet Broadway Database: Broadway shows, people, theaters, awards and season statistics, with current productions.
• The Broadway League (Trade group): National trade association for the Broadway industry. Its members include theater owners, producers and presenters.
• Playbill: Theater news and listings for Broadway, Off-Broadway and London, plus theater jobs.
• The Stage: UK theater news, reviews, interviews and jobs for theater professionals. Some content requires a subscription.
• Play Database: Searchable database of play scripts and monologues by title, author, cast size, run time and genre.

Books and libraries

• Publishers Weekly: Trade news on book publishing and bookselling, with reviews and bestseller lists.
• National Book Critics Circle: Organization of book critics. Annual awards, events and an emerging critics program.
• American Library Association (Trade group): Library association with news, awards and policy advocacy, including book challenge support.
• Library of Congress: National library collections searchable by format. Home of the U.S. Copyright Office and research help from staff experts.

Film and television

• American Film Institute: AFI awards, 100 Years lists, AFI FEST and the AFI Catalog of Feature Films.
• Greatest Films (Filmsite): Film reviews, plot summaries and history written by Tim Dirks. Good background, but confirm facts with a primary source.
• Drew's Script-O-Rama: Personal site that collects film scripts and transcripts. Drafts can differ from the released film, so check quotes against the film.
• Vanderbilt Television News Archive: Indexed archive of national network television news broadcasts. Use it to find what was aired and when.

Music

Music industry figures often come from trade groups and trade publications. Say which one produced the number.

• Recording Industry Association of America (Trade group): Record label trade group. Gold and Platinum certification database, U.S. revenue data and research reports.
• Pollstar: Concert industry trade publication with news, box office reports and charts. Some data requires a subscription.

History and culture

• FBI Vault: FBI reading room for records released under FOIA, including files on well-known historical and cultural figures.
• NativeWeb: Resource database on indigenous cultures around the world, indexed by nation and region. Check that linked sites are current.
• The Food Timeline: Food history reference and research service with sourced entries and period recipes.

For arts reporters

• Jazz Journalists Association: Archival site of the professional group for journalists who cover jazz, with its member directory and email lists.

Reporting checks for this beat

• Have you confirmed names, credits, titles and dates against a database or the production itself?
• Who reported the box office, grosses, sales or streaming figure, and what period does it cover?
• Is a bestseller list, chart or certification you cite current, and do you know how it is compiled?
• Does the critic, curator or expert you quote have a financial or personal tie to the work?
• For historical claims, can you trace the fact to a primary record rather than a fan site or summary?
• If you quote dialogue or lyrics, did you check it against the released work and not a script draft or fan transcript?

Links were checked in September 2026 for a live page from the same organization. Advocacy groups, trade groups and party sites are labeled and should be treated as interested parties. Verify ownership, date and context before publication.