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How are PR people depicted in the media?

A while ago I complained about how PR people are depicted by the media, so I was interested to hear of a PR blog, PRDepiction from Tom Watson, professor of public relations at Bournemouth University, that lists portrayals of PR professionals. This is the collaborative effort of academics and practitioners in the Australia, Ireland, UK and US. In it, there are films and books that go back over 80 years. The first reference dates back to 1930 in John Don Passos's The 42nd Parallel. And an early movie reference is Bing Crosby as the publicist for Hawaii in 1937's Wakiki Wedding. Watson says that suggestions of additions to PRDepiction are welcomed. If you have hours to while away (and want to take a break for yet more pitching), you could easily spend it here, finding out how scriptwriters and novelists like to describe PROs. My favourite has to be the BBC’s Absolute Power. I’m not saying that PR people are anything like the characters Charles Prentiss and Martin McCabe of course!

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