Why public relations is important for the representation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in entertainment

PDF

Download

Open document

Flip pages

Download a page range

Download transcript

Copy asset link

Request this asset

Request accessible transcript

Transcript (if available)

Content WHY PUBLIC RELATIONS IS IMPORTANT FOR THE REPRESENTATION OF ASIAN
AMERICANS AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS IN ENTERTAINMENT
by
Jeremiah Estrada
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ANNENBERG SCHOOL FOR COMMUNICATION AND
JOURNALISM
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(PUBLIC RELATIONS AND ADVERTISING)
May 2024
Copyright 2024 Jeremiah Estrada

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Video Thesis Link…………………………………………………………………………………1
Timestamps………………………………………………………………………………..1
Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………………2

Video Thesis Link
Why Public Relations is Important for the Representation of Asian Americans and Pacific
Islanders in Entertainment
https://youtu.be/qksWV1pe
https://jeremiahestrada.com/mpra-video-thesis-the-importance-pr-has-to-the-representation-of-aa
pi-in-entertainment/
Timestamps
Introduction/abstract………………………………………………………………...…………0:17
History of AAPI representation………………………………………………………………..3:50
Why representation is important……………………………………………………………….5:58
The importance public relations has for representation………………………………………..9:47
How PR determines success………………………………………………………………….13:15
The role community has in representation……………………………………………………17:01
How PR can address inaccurate representation………………………………………………21:10
Promoting emerging AAPI talent…………………………………………………………….26:56
How PR can show that these stories belong in entertainment…………………………..……30:49
The impact PR can have on entertainment executives……………………………………….34:40
Diversity in off-screen talent (producers, writers, directors, journalists)……………….……37:32
Why these changes are important and the future of the industry……………………………..39:41
Diversity in the PR industry/conclusion……………………………………………………...43:23
1

Bibliography
Bakkenes, Florentine. “Diversity and representation in TV and movies and why it matters.” |
Diggit Magazine, 27 June 2022,
https://www.diggitmagazine.com/papers/diversity-and-representation-tv-and-movies-andwhy-it-matters.
Clarke, Emilia, et al. “The Prevalence and Portrayal of Asian American and Pacific Islanders
across 1,300 Popular Films.” USC Annenberg School for Communication and
Journalism, 10 May 2021,
https://assets.uscannenberg.org/docs/aii_aapi-representation-across-films-2021-05-18.pdf
.
Colby, Sandra L., and Jennifer M. Ortman. “Projections of the Size and Composition of the U.S.
Population: 2014 to 2060.” Census Bureau, March 2015,
https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2015/demo/p25-1143.p
df.
Gee, Buck, and Denise Peck. “Asian Americans Are the Least Likely Group in the U.S. to Be
Promoted to Management.” Harvard Business Review, 31 May 2018,
https://hbr.org/2018/05/asian-americans-are-the-least-likely-group-in-the-u-s-to-be-promo
ted-to-management.
“Inequality in 1,600 Popular Films: Examining Portrayals of Gender, Race/Ethnicity, LGBTQ+
and Disability from 2007 to 2022.” USC Annenberg School for Communication and
Journalism, 10 August 2023,
https://assets.uscannenberg.org/docs/aii-inequality-in-1600-popular-films-20230811.pdf.
Levin, Gary. “Who's watching what: TV shows ranked by racial and ethnic groups.” USA Today,
27 June 2017,
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2017/06/27/whos-watching-what-tv-shows-ranke
d-racial-and-ethnic-groups/103199848/.
Lin, Darren. “Sessue Hayakawa, the Hollywood star you've never heard of // 'Always Be My
Maybe' is everything — Darren Lin.” Darren Lin, 10 June 2019,
https://www.darrenlinmusic.com/blog/2019/6/5/sessue-hayakawa-the-hollywood-star-you
ve-never-heard-of.
2

Liu, Jessie. “How To Engage With AAPI Audiences In 5 Steps.” Allied Global Marketing, 18
October 2022,
https://alliedglobalmarketing.com/knowledge/pages/how-to-engage-with-aapi-audiencesin-5-steps#.
“Our Work: STAATUS Index 2022.” LAAUNCH, 2022,
https://www.laaunch.org/staatus-index-2022.
“Public Relations Demographics and Statistics [2024]: Number Of Public Relations In The US.”
Zippia, 21 July 2023, https://www.zippia.com/public-relations-jobs/demographics/.
“Red Light, Green Light: Overcoming Roadblocks to Asian American Creative Executive
Success in the Entertainment Industry — CAPE.” CAPE, October 2023,
https://www.capeusa.org/capetaaf-study-2023.
3

Asset Metadata

Creator Estrada, Jeremiah (author)

Core Title Why public relations is important for the representation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in entertainment

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Public Relations and Advertising

Degree Conferral Date 2024-05

Publication Date 04/08/2024

Defense Date 04/06/2024

Publisher Los Angeles, California (original), University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag advocacy,Asian Americans,diversity,entertainment,Film,inaccurate stereotypes,inclusion,Media,music,narrative,OAI-PMH Harvest,Pacific Islanders,press,public relations,publicity,representation,strategy,Television

Format theses (aat)

Language English

Advisor LeVeque, Matthew (committee chair), Floto, Jennifer (committee member), Lee, Carmen (committee member)

Creator Email je04340@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC113871196

Unique identifier UC113871196

Identifier etd-EstradaJer-12771.pdf (filename)

Legacy Identifier etd-EstradaJer-12771

Document Type Thesis

Format theses (aat)

Rights Estrada, Jeremiah

Internet Media Type application/pdf

Type texts

Source 20240408-usctheses-batch-1136 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright.

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Repository Email uscdl@usc.edu

Abstract (if available)

Abstract This thesis will focus on how public relations helps elevate the voices of Asians and Pacific Islanders in entertainment. Television, film and music have always notoriously lacked diversity. There have been strides in the past couple of years, but more can always be done. Public relations is the key to having improvements in the diversity in entertainment. It helps change the perceptions people have that these faces don’t belong on these screens and can correct the harmful stereotypes that have been ingrained in society for decades. PR is also a tool for AAPI people to have more visibility in general in the media. Having more of these faces in the spotlight inspires more people just like them which is what makes representation so valuable. This thesis can also include topics of interchanging races for acting roles, hate crimes against the AAPI community and more. To be able to get the right representation, that requires the work of PR from the specialists, publicists and practitioners who work with them. Without the strategy and communication efforts of people in our field advocating for these talents, the impact they have on people of color who look like them will not get to reach its potential. My ideas of who to interview include actors and artists who are AAPI, organizations or firms that represent them, casting directors, music executives and more beyond this list that can offer the best insight.