Kelsie Hoffman
Kelsie Hoffman focuses on music and pop culture stories where artists’ work intersects with advocacy, mental health and the lives of ordinary people, translating broadcast interviews and celebrity moments into tight digital features for CBS News. She works as a digital journalist on the growth and engagement side of the newsroom, combining reporting with platform-specific packaging across the CBS News app and YouTube. Her recent pieces highlight how musicians use new releases, public appearances and philanthropy to address immigration, mental health, family and community, rather than treating music coverage as isolated entertainment news.
Pop artists, new music and self-definition
Hoffman’s core music coverage centers on pop and Latin artists using new music to define themselves and speak to broader social questions.
In a feature on Becky G, she built the story around the singer’s latest album while emphasizing how its visuals tie her advocacy on immigration to her artistic identity, describing a video concept that responds directly to recent enforcement raids. A separate piece following Cardi B highlighted new tracks alongside the rapper’s reflections on what inspires her and how motherhood shapes her current work, framing the story as a personal journey rather than a standard album campaign write-up.
Across these features, Hoffman keeps the focus on the artist’s own words and the themes they are trying to surface, linking career milestones to identity, community and the pressures of fame.
Music, mental health and everyday impact
Hoffman’s reporting frequently follows the line between the music industry and mental health or philanthropy. In coverage of unreleased music from Aaron Carter, she zeroed in on how the project was structured to benefit a nonprofit dedicated to children’s mental health, explaining the partnership, the album’s release plans and the organization’s evolution, including its former name.
The piece treated the record not just as a posthumous release, but as part of a broader effort to raise awareness and funding for youth mental health services. She applies a similar lens to stories where musicians intersect with everyday life, such as her report on French Montana’s response to a cab driver whose taxi was damaged after a Knicks win, portraying the encounter as an example of how a high-profile artist can change the trajectory of someone working to support a family.
Even in brief digital pieces, she tends to anchor musician coverage in concrete human stakes rather than chart positions or industry gossip.
Celebrity moments, live events and cross-beat features
Beyond studio releases, Hoffman follows artists into live events and cross-beat stories that mix entertainment with space, community projects and general news. Her coverage of Katy Perry’s participation in a historic Blue Origin flight focused on the experience of an all-women crew, detailing the short journey to the edge of space and Perry’s performance of a classic song during the mission. In related reporting ahead of the launch, she helped set the stage for the broadcast, tracking the countdown and highlighting the involvement of a CBS Mornings co-host in the crew, which underscored the network’s role in the event and the significance of the flight. Hoffman also works on features outside the music beat when they fit her interest in social impact, such as a story about Tulane architecture students designing and building a compact home for a neighbor who had spent years without stable housing, positioning the project as a model of practical community engagement.
Her bylines sometimes appear as contributions to larger hard-news pieces, including an investigation into the handling of a disappearance case in Arizona, where she supported reporting that examined tensions between an attorney and law enforcement over the course of the case. This ability to move between music-focused features, human-interest stories and collaborative reporting on complex investigations reflects a broader comfort with narrative formats that connect individual stories to systemic issues. On the production side, Hoffman’s role includes crafting breaking and feature push alerts for the CBS News app, scripting digital stories for CBS Mornings and optimizing video content and compilations for YouTube, which gives her a direct hand in how music and culture coverage reaches audiences across platforms.
4 more music journalists.
Andrea Dresdale
Andrea Dresdale manages entertainment content at ABC Audio and covers music-driven pop culture for news and audio platforms. Her beat centers on chart-friendly pop, new releases, mainstream artists, awards, residencies and industry milestones. She also reports on legacy acts, anniversaries, nostalgia, remixes, live performances and music’s links to film, television, streaming and social media. Her notable coverage includes Taylor Swift, BTS, The Weeknd, Madonna, The Beach Boys, Bruce Springsteen, Patty Smyth and Miley Cyrus. Her work has appeared through syndicated ABC Audio coverage on outlets such as WRMF, KS95 and Hot 96.7. Dresdale writes concise, timely pieces for radio audiences. She frames songs, tours, specials and career moments through cultural impact, fan appeal, commercial momentum and lasting relevance. Her stories connect current hits with music history and show how artists maintain attention through new releases, collaborations and reinterpretations.
Andrew Weber
Andrew Weber uses accountability reporting to examine who benefits from decisions shaping Austin’s music ecosystem. He reports for KUT as a government accountability reporter and works as a freelance reporter and associate editor for KUT News across the public radio network. His music coverage focuses on musicians’ pay at festivals, health care, mental health services, venue relief and working conditions. He treats SXSW as a workplace and economic system, reporting on low fees, sponsorships, boycotts and the political choices behind the festival. He also covers government and institutional issues, including KUT’s relationship with the University of Texas and the firing of general manager Debbie Hiott. His reporting ranges from nonprofit support systems to experimental sound art. He plays music on the side and brings digital storytelling experience, including an Edward R. Murrow award for social media work.
Andy Greene
Andy Greene is a senior writer at Rolling Stone who stands out for long-form interviews and narrative features that follow artists across entire careers. He focuses on music, especially classic rock performers, live shows, tours, and band dynamics. He runs the interview series Unknown Legends and King For a Day, which center on veteran musicians, sidemen, collaborators, and singers who replace legendary frontmen. He also writes cover stories and major features on high-profile figures, including Radiohead, Howard Stern, Bill Withers, Nathan Fielder, Steve Perry, Pete Townshend, and Stephen King. His reporting relies on access, detailed questioning, and a deep command of rock history. He also writes about film and television when they connect to music and culture.
Anna Grace Lee
Anna Grace Lee is a Vogue reporter who covers pop musicians and celebrities through fashion, weddings, and lifestyle culture, focusing on dresses, events, pets, and subcultures rather than industry news. She writes scene-driven features that place entertainers in vivid settings, from villas to underground food markets, and treats music-adjacent stories as fashion and craftsmanship narratives. Her Dua Lipa Sicily wedding coverage shows how she frames a wedding dress as a haute couture moment and a pop-cultural milestone, emphasizing design, making, and handwork. Her Millie Bobby Brown miniature poodle piece reflects a consistent interest in celebrity pets, fandom, and off-stage persona. She also reports lifestyle features like Brooklyn’s buzziest underground cheese sale, embedding in niche food scenes. At Vogue she contributes to weddings, celebrity, living, and Met Gala coverage, and maintains a portfolio of culture and lifestyle work built around entertainment-adjacent storytelling.