PR 332 Reality TV PR Professionals, Ethical or Unethical?

The cast of "The Spin Crowd" 

          I read an article in PR News that immediately grabbed my attention. The article titled, Reality TV vs. Real PR Professionals makes a valid point--is this TV show a demonstration of how PR professionals work? The article is referring to the new hit reality TV show on E! called The Spin Crowd. The show glamorizes the hard work of PR professionals by featuring a beautiful cast and romanticizing a career in public relations. The Hollywood Reporter says, "It depicts the real world of celebrity publicity about as faithfully as those happy California cows depict dairy farming." Furthermore the show contributes to the dishonest label placed on PR professionals and places a false advertisement on public relations. 
          As our textbook discusses in chapter 33, ethics is an important issue in public relations. The staff of the reality TV show falsely showcases unethical principles. For one, they deceive the public by glamorizing the life of professionals in the field. An ethical PR professional would not use beauty as a successful PR tactic. For example, on one episode of The Spin Crowd, the head of the PR firm asks his beautiful staff member to get a lip injection and offered to pay if she agreed to the plastic surgery. I don't think an account executive would actually offer to pay for his staff's plastic surgery. This is just E!'s way of making money. People enjoy watching immoral and unjust characters more than an ethical hard working staff. However, the viewers think this unethical behavior is going on in PR agencies everywhere. The work of PR professionals does not focus on beauty to build media lists and clientele and real PR people do much more than plan events and tweet. Watch The Spin Crowd (Sundays on E! form 10:30-11 p.m.) if you want to poke fun at Hollywood publicity but it is important to trust real PR professionals and not reality TV. As PR News says trust a PR professional, "They may not be ready for their close-up, but they’re getting you ready for yours."