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30
agency who really knows what they’re doing. That’s what they pay for: professional
consulting and top quality work.” (p. 243). This shows that not only is there this negative
stereotype, but that women who are actually in the industry are ascribing these
descriptions to their fellow female colleagues.
Frohlich and Peters also found that the stereotype of the “PR bunny” was
typically given to those in fashion and lifestyle over other areas in the field (p. 242).
Wardak’s work also suggests that there is some sort of hierarchy within industries,
positing that some portrayals show that some jobs are “less real” than others. Once again
looking at the similar field of journalism, Wardak indentifies sex columnist Carrie
Bradshaw in Sex and the City, and illustrates three separate occasions where the validity
of Bradshaw’s career as a sex columnist is questioned and not taken seriously, including
a time when she dates a politician who dumps her because his team thinks that dating a
sex columnist isn’t good for his image. Even Bradshaw is left pondering whether she
holds a “real job” when she compares her career to others more than once in the series
(pp. 8 – 9). Wardak shows that there is a stigma with the type of work that Bradshaw
does, suggesting a less prestigious role in journalism as a sex columnist instead of a
novelist, and a hierarchy within the industry itself.
In Wardak’s essay, Carrie Bradshaw questions herself when it comes to her
career, and sometimes believes that others do not take her as a serious writer when
introducing herself, despite Wardak’s argument that she appears educated and
professional (p. 8). This idea of hierarchy within an industry is reflected in Frohlich and
Peters’ study, where women see fashion and lifestyle as an area of public relations with
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 30 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 30 agency who really knows what they’re doing. That’s what they pay for: professional consulting and top quality work.” (p. 243). This shows that not only is there this negative stereotype, but that women who are actually in the industry are ascribing these descriptions to their fellow female colleagues. Frohlich and Peters also found that the stereotype of the “PR bunny” was typically given to those in fashion and lifestyle over other areas in the field (p. 242). Wardak’s work also suggests that there is some sort of hierarchy within industries, positing that some portrayals show that some jobs are “less real” than others. Once again looking at the similar field of journalism, Wardak indentifies sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City, and illustrates three separate occasions where the validity of Bradshaw’s career as a sex columnist is questioned and not taken seriously, including a time when she dates a politician who dumps her because his team thinks that dating a sex columnist isn’t good for his image. Even Bradshaw is left pondering whether she holds a “real job” when she compares her career to others more than once in the series (pp. 8 – 9). Wardak shows that there is a stigma with the type of work that Bradshaw does, suggesting a less prestigious role in journalism as a sex columnist instead of a novelist, and a hierarchy within the industry itself. In Wardak’s essay, Carrie Bradshaw questions herself when it comes to her career, and sometimes believes that others do not take her as a serious writer when introducing herself, despite Wardak’s argument that she appears educated and professional (p. 8). This idea of hierarchy within an industry is reflected in Frohlich and Peters’ study, where women see fashion and lifestyle as an area of public relations with |
