Bryan West is a full-time Taylor Swift reporter, and he’s in town for the Eras tour

Bryan West landed the dream job to travel the world and report on Taylor Swift. So what it’s really like to follow the singer-songwriter around the globe? WATCH THE VIDEO

Journalists sometimes like to boast that they have the best job in the world. But in the eyes of millions of (mostly young) people, American reporter Bryan West probably can lay claim to it.

West gets paid to jet around the globe to report full-time on Taylor Swift. Pretty good work if you can get it.

Just hours after touching down in Melbourne on Sunday, he warned fans to be prepared for a “jam-packed” three hours of Swiftmania when the US singer-songwriter’s seven sold-out concerts in Melbourne and Sydney begin on Friday.

The 35-year-old, whose official title is ‘‘Taylor Swift reporter’’, works for American media giant Gannett which has 200 newspapers across the US and the USA Today network. West told The Australian he’s a “one-man show”, providing around-the-clock Swift content for print, digital and video.

“It’s just me showing up, so I go out there, I have my phone, also a microphone, I’ll shoot video that can be posted on social media later and maybe I can make a video out of it,” West says.

“When I’m on the plane for example from Tokyo down here to Australia I was editing for video just sitting there and also writing articles … so it’s a constant job.”

West is based in Swift’s home state of Tennessee and worked for numerous news outlets before submitting his YouTube video ­application for the Taylor Swift reporting role, giving some 13 reasons why he should be hired for the job.

Taylor Swift with Bryan West. Picture: Instagram

The job advertisement itself went viral, and from a pool of hundreds of potential candidates, the plum gig was awarded to West. Since starting in November he’s come under some criticism for admitting he’s a “Swiftie” – the term used to describe Swift fans – but he assures his followers he’s “completely independent”.

“It’s just like being a beat writer for a sports team, you have contacts that might be with a sports team but you’re in no way embeddedwith them,” West says.

“My beat as a journalist is to cover everything Taylor Swift.”

West has followed Swift for two decades – well before he signed up to reporting on her — and says he has great support from editors as he travels the world covering Swift, and looking for fresh angles on the pop superstar.

“I’m constantly shooting videos all over and archiving, and I have my camera that I shoot professional still photos,” he says.

“It’s a mix of everything.”

West, who has met Swift in the flesh only once, back in 2018, says he is still coming to terms with being an international story himself, given the role draws so much media ­attention.

“It’s been a new reality of reporting but also being reported (on),” he says.

“So even going out to the concerts there are the fans that come up to you and are really excited to see you.”

While many Swift fans might wonder whether West attends every one of the singer-songwriter’s concerts, he reveals the reality of reporting on her sold-out shows.

“As anybody knows who goes to a concert, the Wi-Fi for the venue isn’t the most reliable and it isn’t the best to file stories in real time,” he said.

Instead he sometimes use his computer and resources elsewhere, but stays within close vicinity of the concert venue if he needs to cover breaking news. West says he will return to the US after the Australian leg of Swift’s tour before travelling to her concerts in Paris in May.

Originally published as Bryan West is a full-time Taylor Swift reporter, and he’s in town for the Eras tour