It’s not surprising that these days, social media is literally taking over the world. As an audience, we have constant exposure to anyone and everyone’s profiles. When coming into the public eye, from the celebrity’s point of view, it’s not as easy as one may think. (I mean, not that I would know. After all, I’m just a sophomore studying at university, so there’s nothing famous about me.) But, over the past few years, I have gained interest in diving deeper into the reality of celebrities and their expertise with the media: what they have to post, what they have to say, what they have to look like, and so much more that we don’t even realize. Media training is one of the most prominent aspects that come with the job.
Media training is a specialized form of communication between fans and the public figure themselves. It coaches them on how to understand their audience’s perspective, as well as viewpoints. Once their target audience is figured out, there is a specific vibe that they have to follow. Before becoming famous world wide, it is very common for celebrities to have a “brand” for themselves already set. They need a reason to stand out from the rest. For example, Ke$ha was portrayed as this crazy singer with intense behavior that caught the attention of many. But, she has opened up saying that the persona of constantly being a “party girl” was rough and that’s not what she is really like. She constantly had to be in the media talking about her raunchy songs and even admitted to not loving how she had to act in her music videos. But, she had to go along with the persona because that is how she was seen in the media.
Media covers a vast range including interviews, social media posts, and being papped in public. Although to the viewers it does not seem like it, pretty much every move public figures make is planned out. They are prepared in the entertainment industry to share with the media only certain aspects of their lives. Celebrities know that media sources are always trying to get the latest scoop on them, so they become experts in knowing how to act in the media. When finding all this information, it was a bit upsetting finding out the truth about people who you idolized for years. But it makes sense, because if there’s one thing that all public figures share, it’s that their lives seem to be perfect based on what we see in the media.
