Why do we feel the need to perform in order to appear authentic? The question of the performance of authenticity is most prominent in personality and celebrity journalism, where the core of the story is to encapsulate an individual's raw, unfiltered persona. However, celebrity and personality journalism is primarily a dialogue between two or more people; the portrayal of authenticity is shaped by components, such as narrative and performance.

Photos: Spotify/Call Her Daddy, BBC/Chicken Shop Date, YouTube/Jack Edwards. Collage by Michelle Chen / PRESSET.

Formats of Personality Journalism

Personality journalism today can take on many forms of media, such as podcasts, video series, interviews structured as mock “dates,” as popularised by Amelia Dimoldenberg’s Chicken Shop Date. Before the rise of content creation, interviews were conducted by the press to convey the persona of the interviewed and their craft, but through carefully polished and crafted questions prepared by the artist and their publicity team. The digital format of personality journalism today is often an attempt to give the audience a more intimate and authentic image of public figures such as celebrities.

The podcast

An example of personality journalism in the podcast format is “Call Her Daddy” hosted by Alex Cooper. The podcasts host celebrities and known public figures as guests, and are structured as a “laid back” form of interview with a setting reminiscent of a living room space instead of an actual studio.

Cooper (left) on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in 2023. Photo: IMDB

In journalism, dialogue is an effort to convey the authenticity of a person; thus, dialogue becomes a crucial part of building trust both for the audience and the interviewee. Podcasts have a different aim than traditional journalism. The host of , “Call her Daddy”, is a content creator/media personality, and often, in order to distribute the attention mutually, the host must ask questions that will build up to the momentum, the “viral” moment they can make content of. Therefore, the interviews are structured more as a conversation between two friends rather than a formal interview.

It is not to say this podcast style can’t be authentic, but the structure of dialogue in this context has its ramifications. It leaves little space to dig into questions that may seem uneasy, but it is essential to achieve the raw and unfiltered side of the person. Admiration for their guests is great; however, it is about maintaining the balance between conversational “fangirling,” which enhances the host's personality and aims, and highlighting the character of the person they are interviewing.

Other formats

Dimoldenberg in 2024. Photo: Leo Cassiopea / Wikimedia Commons.

Moreover, “Chicken Shop” by Amelia Dimoldenberg has a different approach to personality-driven journalism where the genuine self of the individual is revealed through deliberate performance. On “Chicken Shop”, the celebrities who participate are aware of the structure of the interview—a deadpan, humorous, flirtatious mock date. However, the emphasis of the interview is the dialogue and most of all, the dialogue and behaviour, and the audience sees how the celebrities react spontaneously. The host is in character, but the person interviewed is not; they play along with the sarcastic deadpan humour. Which is precisely the point—it is half performance and half authentic, thus, it does leave room for dialogue, which displays an intimate conversation, but it is real dialogue within a constructed scenario. This style draws from the “authentic-inauthenticity”, where by being upfront about the staged-ness of the situation feels more honest than pretending otherwise.

Jack Edwards interviewing actor Cillian Murphy. Photo: Jack Edwards/TikTok

Another example is Jack Edward’s book of interviews with celebrities. Jack Edwards is also a content creator, and he is as much of a highlight as his guests. However, in his book interview series, the conversation is the content. Through discussing literary fiction and giving book recommendations, it creates the image of the celebrity as an intellectual individual; therefore, it highlights not only the books that are discussed, but the taste and eloquence of the celebrity.

These interviews feel casual and unplanned just as the other examples, but there is always an element of how an interview is staged. However, that doesn’t always necessarily mean the conversation itself is not authentic—an essential part of personality-driven journalism is the passion for the subject discussed and the indivdual . In Jack Edward’s interview, there is clearly a passion for literature, and he adjusts the recommendations and mood based on whom he is interviewing much like Dimoldenberg, thus, the direction of the conversation is navigated by genuine interest and well knowledge about the individual that is interviewed.

The Power of The Audience

The informal setting, like fast food spots, living rooms with couches, and such, creates a more accessible space for the audience, in a way where they can complicity participate in the engagement between the content, the celebrity, and themselves as the viewer. The hosts/creators have to engage with the intimate personality-driven format to encourage emotional investment. In that way, it is actually the audience that is in the position to decide how personality is shown, and assess the authenticity. Accessible platforms, such as social media, have allowed the audience more power than ever to shape the narrative. What is shown to us is a reflection of our sense of what authenticity is, but that authenticity is a controlled vulnerability.

Photo: Leuchtturm Entertainment / Unsplash‍

That is the paradox of authenticity—it is restricted, too much or too little, it disillusions our parasocial engagement. The audience are the ones who determines what we perceive as authentic. There is a demand for authenticity, but only within our comfort zone. In many ways, in modern personality-driven journalism, the audience becomes the driving force behind how dialogue is shaped and how the narrative of the video series or podcasts are structured.

The most notable question then becomes whether there can be genuine conversation.

While we still frequently ask questions such as, “Why does everyone have a podcast these days? Is it entertainment or serious journalism?” we still crave for profiles of public figures that makes us feel as though we are a part of the dialogue that happens through the screen. The audience are active participants in deciding not only what is considered authentic, but what kind of performance of authenticity we collectively validate. At its core, storytelling and human perspectives are what distinguishes personality journalism from the traditional format of journalism.

When the host and the interviewed public figure are the center of the conversation in personality-driven journalism, and the audience expects to see personality displayed from both sides, it is important to maintain the balance between how a dialogue is performed and its aim. Amidst performance, storytelling through conversation is the pulse of personality journalism and creating authentic narratives about people. Authentic conversation is a way to communicate about our feelings and thought with transparency, and to do so, the challenging, uneasy, maybe even quiet moments must be explored.

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