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14
IMPACT OF ONSCREEN PROFESSIONAL PORTRAYALS
How Fictional Portrayals Impact Viewers
Onscreen portrayals have the potential to impact audiences watching that show,
and in particular, portrayals of professions on screen can affect how the audience sees
that profession (Miller, 1999, p. 4; Pfau, & Mullen, 1995, p. 325). In support of this
claim, there are two distinct theoretical approaches that help us see how media portrayals
impact viewers. We must first look at George Gerbner’s cultivation theory, which
suggests that images in the media influences our perceptions. Cultivation explores how
television viewing affects viewer’s conceptions of social reality. (Morgan & Shanahan,
2010, p. 339). Gerbner claimed that mass communication was the mass production of
messages, and that, for example, those who watch a lot of television “are more likely to
perceive the real world in ways that reflect the most common and recurrent messages of
the world of fictional television” (Morgan & Shanahan, 2010, p. 337). Although
television is a system of images that is produced for a large audience and different
programs target different segments, the images are often complementary and consistent
with ideologies of society. These recurring images appear in various programming, so
even the regular viewer sees these presented images and makes conclusions about “the
real world” (pp. 4 – 5). This theory focuses on uncovering recurring images over a long
period of time rather than one viewing, and Gerbner suggests that those who spend more
time watching television process those images and accept them as real-life norms.
Television viewing cultivates ways of seeing the world – those who spend more
time “living” in the world of television are more likely to see the “real world” in
terms of the images, values, portrayals, and ideologies that emerge through the
lens of television (Bryant & Oliver, 1994, p. 35).
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 14 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 14 IMPACT OF ONSCREEN PROFESSIONAL PORTRAYALS How Fictional Portrayals Impact Viewers Onscreen portrayals have the potential to impact audiences watching that show, and in particular, portrayals of professions on screen can affect how the audience sees that profession (Miller, 1999, p. 4; Pfau, & Mullen, 1995, p. 325). In support of this claim, there are two distinct theoretical approaches that help us see how media portrayals impact viewers. We must first look at George Gerbner’s cultivation theory, which suggests that images in the media influences our perceptions. Cultivation explores how television viewing affects viewer’s conceptions of social reality. (Morgan & Shanahan, 2010, p. 339). Gerbner claimed that mass communication was the mass production of messages, and that, for example, those who watch a lot of television “are more likely to perceive the real world in ways that reflect the most common and recurrent messages of the world of fictional television” (Morgan & Shanahan, 2010, p. 337). Although television is a system of images that is produced for a large audience and different programs target different segments, the images are often complementary and consistent with ideologies of society. These recurring images appear in various programming, so even the regular viewer sees these presented images and makes conclusions about “the real world” (pp. 4 – 5). This theory focuses on uncovering recurring images over a long period of time rather than one viewing, and Gerbner suggests that those who spend more time watching television process those images and accept them as real-life norms. Television viewing cultivates ways of seeing the world – those who spend more time “living” in the world of television are more likely to see the “real world” in terms of the images, values, portrayals, and ideologies that emerge through the lens of television (Bryant & Oliver, 1994, p. 35). |
