SPONSORED BY:
CULTURE

What Does a Publicist Really Do?

 

Email To A Friend

Please fill in the following information and we'll email this link.

Separate multiple addresses with commas

SPONSORED BY
 

Howard Bragman is a Hollywood publicist whose clients include Isaiah Washington and Ed McMahon. He spoke to Ramin Setoodeh.

What is a publicist?
A liaison between a high-profile person and the media.

Who was the first publicist?
Do you know how far publicity goes back? The Bible. God said, "Here are the Ten Commandments." Moses said, "I'm not that articulate." God said, "Your brother Aaron is. He'll tell everyone and we'll be cool."

Who was the next publicist after that?
Edward Bernays is known as the father of public relations. He was Sigmund Freud's nephew.

Is the idea of crisis publicity new?
It's not new, but the intensity is greater. We live in a world where the wall between public and private has come down.

Is there a rule for commenting?
It depends on the nature of the crisis. Some will be over in a day, like this week's Don Imus problem.

What's the biggest crisis of the year?
Does the presidency count?

© 2008

Label

Newsweek Top Stories
Visions of a Decade
Visions of a Decade

From 2000-2009, one photo per month.

The Failure of Copenhagen
The Failure of Copenhagen

Why there could be a silver lining in a failed climate treaty.

Sex Scandals of the 2000s
Sex Scandals of the 2000s

From John Edwards to Mark Sanford, the decade's memorable affairs.

118 Days in Hell
118 Days in Hell

A NEWSWEEK journalist recounts his captivity in Iran.

Discuss

Sponsored by

My Take

Customize the NEWSWEEK homepage
to feature your favorite columnists.

Customize Now