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16
lawyers, that viewer may assume that whatever is depicted in the courtroom, for example,
is accurate. Similarly, Pfau and Mullen (1995) found that depictions of lawyers on
television shows, “were suggestive of public perceptions,” (p. 325) meaning that the
characteristics of lawyers shown on screen were the same characteristics that the public
perceived lawyers actually had.
Not only do these images affect how one perceives a profession, but the images
can also impact how one makes a career decision based off of the seen images. Hammer
(2008) points out that when women make decisions to enter a specific career, the
decisions are based on society’s expectations of that career as well as their own (p. 19).
Herman (2005) also found that the media did impact career decisions. One of Herman’s
respondents said that although after entering the field she realized these images were
fantasy, media portrayals of the journalist did in fact play a large part in her decision to
pursue journalism (p. 32). Therefore, when specifically talking about public relations,
media’s portrayals of the female publicist can oversell certain aspects of the profession to
attract women to work in the field, or brand female publicists in a particular way so that
others perceive these professionals with certain characteristics.
Reality Television’s Impact on the Viewer
Like fictional shows, reality television plays a large part in societal norms as to
what we perceive is true. Ferris, Smith, Greenberg, and Smith (2007) studied the
perception of dating based on reality dating shows, and found that viewers identified
more with reality stars than fictional characters because the viewer sees them as “real
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 16 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 16 lawyers, that viewer may assume that whatever is depicted in the courtroom, for example, is accurate. Similarly, Pfau and Mullen (1995) found that depictions of lawyers on television shows, “were suggestive of public perceptions,” (p. 325) meaning that the characteristics of lawyers shown on screen were the same characteristics that the public perceived lawyers actually had. Not only do these images affect how one perceives a profession, but the images can also impact how one makes a career decision based off of the seen images. Hammer (2008) points out that when women make decisions to enter a specific career, the decisions are based on society’s expectations of that career as well as their own (p. 19). Herman (2005) also found that the media did impact career decisions. One of Herman’s respondents said that although after entering the field she realized these images were fantasy, media portrayals of the journalist did in fact play a large part in her decision to pursue journalism (p. 32). Therefore, when specifically talking about public relations, media’s portrayals of the female publicist can oversell certain aspects of the profession to attract women to work in the field, or brand female publicists in a particular way so that others perceive these professionals with certain characteristics. Reality Television’s Impact on the Viewer Like fictional shows, reality television plays a large part in societal norms as to what we perceive is true. Ferris, Smith, Greenberg, and Smith (2007) studied the perception of dating based on reality dating shows, and found that viewers identified more with reality stars than fictional characters because the viewer sees them as “real |
