Editorial: Celebrity special

If you’re a UK-based public relations student or young practitioner (or a public relations educator) – welcome to your magazine.

Photo: Victoria Crampton

There are two themes in the current issue:

We take a look at celebrity and public relations.

Golley Slater Manchester’s Agatha Chapman-Poole gives us an insider’s account of celebrity endorsement.

Just back from a road trip across the United States, Laura Smith reports on celebrity obsession from Hollywood to Manhattan.

Emma Dickinson thinks celebrity lives are presented as fairy tales, but wonders why there are so few happy endings. Laura Daly thinks that where celebrities lead, PR and marketing must surely follow: Twitter.

Students wanting to research celebrity and PR for their dissertations have been frustrated by how little space the topic attracts in the maintstream textbooks. This is now changing, and we review two recent contributions to the literature.

Our other theme is PR placements.

Nathaniel Southworth-Barlow advises how to secure that important internship opportunity and returning placement students report on their year’s work. Alice Harper for a cosmetics company; Claire Pace for a charity and Amanda Fox for a public sector tourism organisation. Steve McComish gives the golden rules for finding PR agency work experience.

Other recent contributions have covered music and PR. Gareth Thompson recalls promoting an online music site in the internet’s infancy, when many were sceptical about its chances of success. Caroline Gibson enjoyed Glastonbury, and discusses how this venerable festival managed to appeal to a younger audience this year.

Our perennial topic is PR courses and careers. Sarah Callender describes her role in business to business communications and Richard Millington describes how he gained his dream job at the United Nations in Geneva.

Ellis Noble loves the glamorous depiction of PR on television, but finds that the real work cannot quite live up to the image. To help untangle your expectations of PR, we’ve written an introductory guide to public relations aimed at new students.

Past issues have focused on international public relations, transport PR and public affairs. Please explore the site.

We’re always on the lookout for new writers, new ideas, and new guest editors for the next academic year. (We’re also seeking a news editor). Forward features appear on the About page. Please contact the editor with your ideas or offers of help.

Richard Bailey (editor@behindthespin.com)