Between Opportunity and Exploitation: Labor Expectations and Institutional Practices in the Public Relations Internship

Abstract

This dissertation explores the institutional practices that shape and inform internships within the public relations industry to shed light on the motivations and operating constraints that can lead to exploitive internship opportunities. It addresses how universities prepare emerging talent and the ways the public relations industry solicits labor. Theoretically informed by political economy of communication and cultural studies, this research builds on several key precepts, including creative autonomy, invisible labor, exploitation and practices of resistance, power dynamics within social structures, and investigates how hegemony is exercised through relations of power and consent. The investigation is pursued through three entry points: A textual analysis of PR News examines how trade publications influence the professional identities of PR practitioners to understand how the industry constructs the ideal public relations employee. This study argues PR News creates interoffice conflict between generations of professionals centered on the topic of professional development. Next, an institutional analysis of internship advertisements at the top 25 communications firms provides insights on how the culture industries solicit student workers, illicit emotional responses to the media text, exploit the ontological rewards of future employment, and governance structures that may conceal forms of exploitation. Lastly, in-depth interviews with interns shed light on how these young laborers negotiate creativity within corporate governance structures, as well as intern’s motivations to produce content without earning a paycheck. The conclusion summarizes findings, implications, real world applications, suggestions for future interns, as well as offers areas for future scholarship.