For the Public Good or Just Good Publicity? Celebrity Diplomacy and the Ethics of Representation

Abstract

Celebrities in recent years have taken on a more active role in communicating global humanitarian crises to the American public. This role at times shifts between journalist, advocate, philanthropist, and personal publicist. This paper evaluates how three of the most wellknown celebrities in this genre in the United States -Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, and Bono -differ in their method of speaking about these issues, focusing on how their public discourse adds to, or detracts from, citizens' abilities to understand, discuss, and respond to the issues presented in the public sphere. Through critical discourse analysis, similarities and differences are teased out and placed within the context of previous research on celebrity diplomacy and humanitarian crises, in order to evaluate the usefulness of such performances for the U.S. public as democratic citizens, and for the victims of foreign suffering the celebrities purport to represent.

A qualitative case study examination of athlete ally using social movement theory.

“…They design products to sell in support of charitable organizations; facilitate access to people with social, political, and economic power; promote general awareness; and campaign, fundraise, and reward existing supporters (Brockington, 2014). The greatest benefit celebrities offer an organization is the ability to communicate the issue to the public through the broad platform given to them by their status (Kogen, 2015;Thrall et al, 2008). In short, celebrity activists are popular and have access to influential means of communication.…”

“…In short, celebrity activists are popular and have access to influential means of communication. The celebrity activist, however, can struggle to garner public support if s/he seems disingenuous toward the issue (Panis & van Den Bulck, 2012) or fails to effectively articulate what non-celebrity individuals can do to help the humanitarian efforts (Kogen, 2015). Despite these criticisms, actors, musicians, writers, and other nonathlete celebrity activists are viewed more positively for their social justice when compared to another group of celebrity activistsathletes (Kaufman, 2008;Kaufman & Wolff, 2010).…”

“…While each frame can be used to interpret social movements, resonance is important to understanding the success of frames. For instance, one major criticism of celebrity activism is that celebrities fail to effectively articulate the frames of the organization to the non-celebrity public (Kogen, 2015). Thus, the celebrity (in this case athlete) who is unable to articulate the frames fails to clearly articulate the importance of the message to the public.…”

“…Celebrity activism is defined as "any work by famous people in service of some cause other than themselves" (Brockington, 2014, p. xxii). The United Nations was one of the first major organizations to employ celebrity activists (Kogen, 2015). In 1953, American actor, singer, and dancer Danny Kaye was appointed as the United Nations Children's Fund's (UNICEF) first Goodwill Ambassador (Wheeler, 2011).…”

“…Since then, celebrity activists and advocates have publicized field trips; designed products to sell in support of charitable organizations; facilitated access to people with social, political, and economic power; promoted general awareness; and campaigned, fundraised, and rewarded existing supporters (Brockington, 2014). Most of all, literature supports the idea that a celebrity activist's largest impact stems from being able to communicate proficiently with the public (Kogen, 2015). Moreover, celebrities garner more media attention thus giving the celebrity activist a broader platform from which to advocate (Thrall et al, 2008).…”