By Johnny Russo — 9/23/09
Entertainment reporting is more than just dresses and drama. No one knows this better than Maureen Heaton. She is one of the most powerful people in entertainment journalism. Heaton has worked at E! for eleven years. She is the assignment editor for E! News. That means Heaton and her team decide which stories will make E! News, which airs twice a night Monday through Friday.
In her eleven years Heaton has worked her way up the ladder. She started as an intern and through hard work and dedication she now helps run one of the entertainment industry’s powerhouses. Heaton has the reputation for being one of the first people to be in the E! newsroom and one of the very last people to leave. “No one works harder than Maureen and we all love her,” said Giuliana Rancic, one of the host of E! News.
When it comes to entertainment, E! is one of the premiere places to get all of the latest and hottest stories, not just in Hollywood, but in the world. Heaton believes that what makes E! different than any other entertainment network or show is that E! is all entertainment all the time. The network is solely focused on entertainment and nothing else. In addition to being the epicenter of entertainment world, E! produces more entertainment news shows than the competition. Not only is that great for the fans, but as Heaton put it “there is more time for publicist and managers to get their clients and stars on the show.”
Heaton let WEBN-TV in on a few secrets of how E! was going to cover the red carpet of the 61st annual Prime Time Emmy Awards. For the first time ever E! introduced the Glamcam 360. It is a state of the art camera that captures video in a complete 360 degree motion. So you can see what the stars are wearing from front to back and top to bottom. Another reason why E! is the global leader of the red carpet is the network is introducing a Stiletto cam. That is a camera which focuses on the footwear the ladies will be strutting their stuff with down the red carpet.
With the entertainment business in constant change, there is never a
dull moment at E!. When WEBN-TV asked Heaton what was the craziest story she has ever covered, the answer was an easy one. Heaton said “The death of Michael Jackson was the craziest story I have had to cover because it was so huge. We all looked around the newsroom and knew no one was going home that night because it was that big of a story.”
Heaton confessed she tries to watch as little tv as possibly when she is home, but is amazed at how big entertainment journalism has gotten, and where entertainment journalism is going. Heaton says entertainment journalism is now going in the direction of wanting to know more about stars’ day-to-day and personal life. Wherever the world of entertainment journalism goes, you can bet Heaton will be right where the big stories are and right in the middle of the action.