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Mistaken Stereotype of PR
May 12, 2008 | Tagged deadlines, post-graduation, public relations, samantha jones, sex in the city | 7 Comments
As graduation nears, I find myself having to defend my degree in public relations quite often. There is a huge misconception about the field of public relations thanks to the sugar-coated version the media often portrays.
The notorious example of television’s most misleading PR professional is Sex in the City’s Samantha Jones. On HBO’s website, it states that Samantha Jones “is a successful PR exec who knows what she wants- and most of the time, she gets it. She radiates confidence in everything she does, whether it’s landing a star client, getting a table at the trendiest restaurant or bedding the hottest guy in a room.”
This statement instantly discredits a field of professionals. How dare HBO mention Samantha’s confidence as a PR exec and then put “landing a client” and “bedding the hottest guy in a room” in the same sentence!
The Independent’s article Public Relations also refers to this erroneous Sex in the City stereotype when it references why someone should choose to enter the field of PR, “Because you want to do lunch at the Groucho club. You emulate Samantha from Sex and the City. You enjoy schmoozing and working the room.”
I want to demolish this humiliating misconception and let those who have been greatly mislead know that it is not a never-ending party of schmoozing with celebrities, but actually a lot of hard work with a TON of reading, writing, corresponding and making sure you are always up-to-date.
I am tired of defending my occupation against those who see it as an “easy” major and that my skills will never translate into the so-called real world.
Public Relations is based on daunting deadlines and making sure you are providing a service that will best benefit the client as well as build a respectable reputation of the organization.
A PR practitioner must have a clear sharp mind along with a strong solid will of determination. The industry demands dedication and a hard work in order to build a positive, credible and honest reputation.
You have to push yourself to deliver for your client and unlike Samantha Jones’ success is never a guarantee. In short this is not an easy job, but somebody has to do it….so leave it for those who are willing to work hard!
-Caitlin Regan
Comments
7 Comments so far
Caitlin,
I picked this post up off of NakedPR.com and am very appreciative that you mention this. I stumbled into the PR degree path while applying for college and started noticing the wildly misconstrued perceptions that are out there regarding “PR types.” Many of my introductory classes that were open to non-majors were filled with students who thought they could get an easy A, I was constantly asked if I was a sorority girl when telling people what I was in school for (not quite sure how that relates?) and once or twice told, “Oh, don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll find something when you get out into the real world. People rarely ever do what they went to school for.” It was as if I was in college to party and would figure out what to do with my life later. In the “real world”, I still have to explain to people what I do and constantly have to point out that PR does not equate to advertising and marketing, and it’s not an easy job. I think a large part of the problem is that colleges don’t promote their programs well and businesses looking for new hires tend to lump public relations with marketing, event planning and advertising in order to consolidate and spread out the budget. Good luck in whatever you do after graduation–be it finding a job or returning to school or taking time off. I understand the difficulty in receiving appreciation for your degree, but just do your best to portray public relations as the demanding, fast-paced and rewarding profession we know that it is!
Thank you Marilyn Lee! I appreciate your comment to my blog post.
I am enjoying being an account coordinator for Schwartz Communications, Inc.
I couldn’t ask for a better job straight out of college!
I just started my first PR-related blog and the first thing that came to my mind to write about was the Samantha Jones misperception. I am a senior studying public relations at the University of Oregon, and I find it so frustrating that people so often misunderstand my major. It’s unbelievable that one character can have such a profound effect on the reputation of our profession. If nothing else, that misperception inspires me to work that much harder to prove to those around me that public relations is a demanding line of work full of challenges that we must confront each and every day. Thank you for reminding everyone of this through your post.
Thank you Jennifer Mattern- I enjoyed reading your point of view.
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