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ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank the people who have helped me along the way in
writing this thesis. To Kjerstin Thorson, my committee chair, who gave up many
of her hours to read draft after draft, and who steered me in a better direction of
writing. Without your help, I would still be staring at my computer screen with a
bunch of unorganized words. I appreciate all of the time you took out of your own
hectic schedule to help me better my analytical writing skills.
Thank you to my family, Claude, Helen and Danielle, whom I was barely
able to see thanks to weekends that consisted of locking myself in my apartment
to research and write. I can answer my phone now! Particularly to my mother,
who constantly encouraged me that I would have a finished product soon enough
– here it is!
To the other people who have helped me reach this point in my education,
including those I interviewed for this thesis and my other thesis readers. Thank
you for your contributions.
Finally, to my boyfriend Matt, who was patient with me throughout this
entire eight month writing process despite my numerous breakdowns and tears.
Thank you for always seeing the positive in every hurdle and reminding me that
there is always light at the end of the tunnel. I will finally be able to clean my
apartment and make dinner with you again. There is no way I could have
completed this without you.
Object Description
| Title | Power party girls, good looking crowds and one hellish boss: The portrayal of the female entertainment publicist on reality television |
| Author | Hashem, Camille Renée |
| Author email | chashem@usc.edu; chashem87@gmail.com |
| Degree | Master of Arts |
| Document type | Thesis |
| Degree program | Public Relations |
| School | Annenberg School for Communication |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-04-01 |
| Date submitted | 2011 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2011-05-03 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Thorson, Kjerstin |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Floto, Jennifer Saltzman, Joseph |
| Abstract | This thesis is an examination of the portrayal of the female entertainment publicist shown in reality television. With the large success rate of Samantha Jones from Sex and the City in the 1990s, female interest in public relations has increased, and good or bad, Jones has served as one of the predominate images of the publicist in the entertainment industry. Those who have performed critical analysis of the image of the public relations practitioner have deemed these representations as showing negative characteristics of those in the profession. While there has been previous research on the image of public relations in media, analysis of the female entertainment publicist in reality television has been left untapped.; The project consisted of a content analysis as well as interviews with various women in entertainment public relations. Three reality television shows featuring female entertainment publicists were watched: MTV's PoweR Girls (2005), Bravo's Kell on Earth (2010) and E! Network's The Spin Crowd. After conducting this analysis, the author found that the female publicist is put in one of two gender categories, the masculine bitch or the overtly sexy "PR Bunny." Other findings inferred that the dominant images within each series suggested that public relations is overall an easy field to enter, with little or no experience or professionalism needed. Finally, although the three series had some subtle differences, public relations is still shown as a glamorous job.; Interviewee responses showed that the negative representations of entertainment publicists on reality television are not indicative of the real life job itself, but that media's representation of it has led others to believe false or skewed images of the profession. Since these three shows' target demographics include young women about make a career decision, the impact they may have on this demographic, and how it may affect the future of public relations and the expectations of those about the enter the industry, is also discussed. |
| Keyword | communication; entertainment; media; public relations; reality television |
| Geographic subject (country) | USA |
| Coverage date | 1990/2010 |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m3875 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Hashem, Camille Renée |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Hashem-4503 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume26/etd-Hashem-4503.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 2 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the people who have helped me along the way in writing this thesis. To Kjerstin Thorson, my committee chair, who gave up many of her hours to read draft after draft, and who steered me in a better direction of writing. Without your help, I would still be staring at my computer screen with a bunch of unorganized words. I appreciate all of the time you took out of your own hectic schedule to help me better my analytical writing skills. Thank you to my family, Claude, Helen and Danielle, whom I was barely able to see thanks to weekends that consisted of locking myself in my apartment to research and write. I can answer my phone now! Particularly to my mother, who constantly encouraged me that I would have a finished product soon enough – here it is! To the other people who have helped me reach this point in my education, including those I interviewed for this thesis and my other thesis readers. Thank you for your contributions. Finally, to my boyfriend Matt, who was patient with me throughout this entire eight month writing process despite my numerous breakdowns and tears. Thank you for always seeing the positive in every hurdle and reminding me that there is always light at the end of the tunnel. I will finally be able to clean my apartment and make dinner with you again. There is no way I could have completed this without you. |
