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54
INTERVIEW FINDINGS
All four interviewees generally had the same responses about the media’s
portrayal of entertainment public relations, and confirmed the findings in the content
analysis. There were four recurring key points that were mentioned in each interview.
First, all respondents agreed that reality television heightens drama in a given scenario.
Like the results found in the content analysis, the respondents also believe that
entertainment public relations is shown as a much more glamorous job than it is, and that
the shows generally disregard any other daily activities that are not celebrity-related.
Next, they identified negative images they feel are associated with the entertainment
publicist by providing narrative from their own experiences. Finally, it was pointed out
that among the three shows analyzed and these negative depictions, Kell on Earth
provides the most realistic example of entertainment PR.
Reality Television is Drama
The respondents believed that even though reality television is supposed to
feature “real life,” that the portrayals are dramatically heightened to provide more
entertainment. There was one key difference between the reasoning of the two groups of
interviewees regarding this idea. The two women already in the industry felt that these
shows require an overly dramatic person, and due to the casting, provides a dramatic
experience. The two students believed that the people cast for these shows were
“normal,” and that it was post-production and editing that made otherwise non-dramatic
scenes seem so. Respondent A stated:
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 54 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 54 INTERVIEW FINDINGS All four interviewees generally had the same responses about the media’s portrayal of entertainment public relations, and confirmed the findings in the content analysis. There were four recurring key points that were mentioned in each interview. First, all respondents agreed that reality television heightens drama in a given scenario. Like the results found in the content analysis, the respondents also believe that entertainment public relations is shown as a much more glamorous job than it is, and that the shows generally disregard any other daily activities that are not celebrity-related. Next, they identified negative images they feel are associated with the entertainment publicist by providing narrative from their own experiences. Finally, it was pointed out that among the three shows analyzed and these negative depictions, Kell on Earth provides the most realistic example of entertainment PR. Reality Television is Drama The respondents believed that even though reality television is supposed to feature “real life,” that the portrayals are dramatically heightened to provide more entertainment. There was one key difference between the reasoning of the two groups of interviewees regarding this idea. The two women already in the industry felt that these shows require an overly dramatic person, and due to the casting, provides a dramatic experience. The two students believed that the people cast for these shows were “normal,” and that it was post-production and editing that made otherwise non-dramatic scenes seem so. Respondent A stated: |
