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47
THE PORTRAYAL OF “NO EXPERIENCE OR PROFESSIONALISM NEEDED”
FOR ENTERTAINMENT PUBLIC RELATIONS
The Image of the Female PR Publicist Without Any PR Experience
The second major finding in the content analysis was the notion that public
relations is an easy field to enter, which requires little to no experience. This is first noted
in the cast of PoweR Girls, where three out of the four staff members lack previous PR
knowledge. Other than Ali, none of Grubman’s other employees had previous public
relations experience. Rachel got her internship with Grubman based off of no public
relations skill. She was working at the Hudson Hotel in New York City, when a man
approached her for date. She said the only way she would go on a date with him was if he
got her a job or internship with Lizzie Grubman PR. Kelly the party girl, who worked
alongside Rachel at the Hudson Hotel, also lacks public relations experience. She states
that Rachel was always inviting her to parties, so she inquired about a position with the
firm and got it. Finally, Millie states that because she has “a million friends, tons of
clothes and happen[s] to be bordering on a shoe obsession” (MTV, 2011), that she is
perfect for the PR world despite any previous experience. She believes that these alone
will make her a successful publicist, disregarding any other business skill like
communication or organization.
The Spin Crowd also sends the image that PR does not require any previous
experience. Lauren met Cheban while VIP hosting at a Miami nightclub, and her online
biography states that she pestered him for years until he finally hired her for his West
Coast office. While Summer does not have PR experience, she is an intern, not a full-time
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 47 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 47 THE PORTRAYAL OF “NO EXPERIENCE OR PROFESSIONALISM NEEDED” FOR ENTERTAINMENT PUBLIC RELATIONS The Image of the Female PR Publicist Without Any PR Experience The second major finding in the content analysis was the notion that public relations is an easy field to enter, which requires little to no experience. This is first noted in the cast of PoweR Girls, where three out of the four staff members lack previous PR knowledge. Other than Ali, none of Grubman’s other employees had previous public relations experience. Rachel got her internship with Grubman based off of no public relations skill. She was working at the Hudson Hotel in New York City, when a man approached her for date. She said the only way she would go on a date with him was if he got her a job or internship with Lizzie Grubman PR. Kelly the party girl, who worked alongside Rachel at the Hudson Hotel, also lacks public relations experience. She states that Rachel was always inviting her to parties, so she inquired about a position with the firm and got it. Finally, Millie states that because she has “a million friends, tons of clothes and happen[s] to be bordering on a shoe obsession” (MTV, 2011), that she is perfect for the PR world despite any previous experience. She believes that these alone will make her a successful publicist, disregarding any other business skill like communication or organization. The Spin Crowd also sends the image that PR does not require any previous experience. Lauren met Cheban while VIP hosting at a Miami nightclub, and her online biography states that she pestered him for years until he finally hired her for his West Coast office. While Summer does not have PR experience, she is an intern, not a full-time |
