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63
Goldsworthy’s (2008) claim that for the most part, PR is shown as a glamorous industry
that requires little experience or professionalism, easy to enter, and often filled with ditzy
professionals. Kell on Earth did have one character, Stephanie Vorhees, who was
portrayed as ditzy, but unlike the other two shows that seemed to value this quality, the
executives on Kell on Earth did not. Similarly, Vorhees was also portrayed as the one
staff member who lacked experience and/or professionalism in public relations. While the
other two shows repeatedly cited and somewhat glorified the cast’s overall lack of
experience in public relations, Vorhees was shown repeatedly messing up simple tasks,
and was eventually fired. However, all three shows did portray that entertainment public
relations exuded some sort of glamour. Although ditzy girls, a lack of professionalism,
and glamour were shown in all three series, these three elements were not the main focus
on Kell on Earth, but rather the problems and stress of the office.
The responses in the conducted interviews provided extra content that extended
the findings in the content analysis, and offered insight as to whether or not the portrayals
of these reality shows were in fact reflective of the workplace. All respondents believed
that although reality television is supposed to serve as a “real image,” casting or post-production
editing leads the episodes to seem more dramatic than the actual workplace.
Despite this, however, they did feel that these dramatic depictions still influence how
society views public relations, specifically entertainment public relations. In particular,
interviewees mentioned that many people think that public relations is all glamour, and
although there may be glamorous perks that occasionally come with the job, public
relations is hard work that requires 24-hour attention. Respondents also confirmed the
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 63 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 63 Goldsworthy’s (2008) claim that for the most part, PR is shown as a glamorous industry that requires little experience or professionalism, easy to enter, and often filled with ditzy professionals. Kell on Earth did have one character, Stephanie Vorhees, who was portrayed as ditzy, but unlike the other two shows that seemed to value this quality, the executives on Kell on Earth did not. Similarly, Vorhees was also portrayed as the one staff member who lacked experience and/or professionalism in public relations. While the other two shows repeatedly cited and somewhat glorified the cast’s overall lack of experience in public relations, Vorhees was shown repeatedly messing up simple tasks, and was eventually fired. However, all three shows did portray that entertainment public relations exuded some sort of glamour. Although ditzy girls, a lack of professionalism, and glamour were shown in all three series, these three elements were not the main focus on Kell on Earth, but rather the problems and stress of the office. The responses in the conducted interviews provided extra content that extended the findings in the content analysis, and offered insight as to whether or not the portrayals of these reality shows were in fact reflective of the workplace. All respondents believed that although reality television is supposed to serve as a “real image,” casting or post-production editing leads the episodes to seem more dramatic than the actual workplace. Despite this, however, they did feel that these dramatic depictions still influence how society views public relations, specifically entertainment public relations. In particular, interviewees mentioned that many people think that public relations is all glamour, and although there may be glamorous perks that occasionally come with the job, public relations is hard work that requires 24-hour attention. Respondents also confirmed the |
