Representations of literary publicists in popular culture have long reinforced tainted perceptions of the profession. Everyone remembers Bridget Jones – who is portrayed in the books and movies as incompetent and constantly objectified by senior male colleagues. Expectations and responsibilities about the role are muddied and outdated.
New research aims to add clarity around being a publicist. Joining the research team, University of Melbourne PhD candidate Claire Parnell says that, ‘these stereotypical depictions are underpinned by what we found as a dearth of misunderstanding of what the role “publicist” actually constitutes, particularly in scholarly literature.’
