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A L S O__T O D A Y 21st Log New York Times falls for old Net gag - - - - - - - - - - T A B L E__T A L K In the market for a notebook computer? Exchange information and advice on brands and features in the Digital Culture area of Table Talk - - - - - - - - - - R E C E N T L Y The father of Mario and Zelda By Moira Muldoon Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto creates the world's most popular video games (12/02/98) Let's Get This Straight By Scott Rosenberg Block those pundits: AOL-Netscape isn't like an NBC of the Web -- and can't be (12/01/98) "We Were Burning" Reviewed by Andrew Leonard A new book tells us to forget about Japan Inc. -- Japanese entrepreneurs led the high-tech consumer electronic revolution (11/30/98) The 21st Challenge No. 16: Misdirected love notes By Charlie Varon and Jim Rosenau Answer the mystery e-mail -- win a prize (11/25/98) The Net never forgets By J.D. Lasica Everything you've ever posted online could come back to haunt you someday (11/25/98) - - - - - - - - - - BROWSE THE 21ST FEATURES ARCHIVES - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - S A L O N E M P O R I U M SALE! Salon's versatile, ultra-tough bag. Now on sale at just $39 for members and $49 for non-members.

SPIN SISTERS | PAGE 1, 2, 3 - - - - - - - - - - "I have this uneasy feeling that the reason there are so many women in PR is that it's a form of journalism that's less respected and therefore easier for them to get ahead," says Richard Brandt, editor-in-chief of Upside. "But I have also seen the profession increase its role, its influence and its importance very dramatically over the last couple of decades. And at the same time that's when a lot of women have gotten into it." The Bureau of Labor Statistics has tagged public relations as one of the three fastest-growing industries in the United States (No. 1 is computer and data processing services, and No. 2 is health services). High tech, in turn, is the fastest-growing sector of PR. According to Glen Broom, a professor at the School of Communications at San Diego State University who has been tracking the growth of public relations, the industry has doubled in size in the last 15 years; today, he says, there are an estimated 350,000 public relations professionals in the United States. Increasingly, those employees come complete with a formal degree in public relations: There are now 300 colleges in the United States that offer some sort of undergraduate or graduate degree in public relations. Most of those PR graduates are women -- 70 percent of all graduates, according to most estimates, with some schools boasting an 80-20 split. Larissa Grunig, a public relations professor at the University of Maryland who studies the feminization of PR, believes that part of the reason public relations is such a popular field for women is because there are accessible management positions -- but that they're accessible only because they're not considered as important. "Companies consider PR as marginal to organization function, not central like finance or marketing. They're not afraid to give women a shot at PR because the risk factor is low," says Grunig. "This is a place where companies traditionally hire women within the executive ranks. If an organization pays lip service to affirmative action and the importance of hiring women, but doesn't trust women to be as effective in management, PR seems like a safe place to put women." Even though large numbers of men also flock to the field, communications, marketing and PR are still stereotyped as "female," and therefore less important, tasks. Communication and relationship nurturing may be important to the growth of a company, but we still live in a world where CEOs and CFOs are put on a pedestal for number crunching and strategic planning. And though there are plenty of women in executive PR roles, Grunig and Broom agree, there aren't as many as there should be, given the huge preponderance of women in the overall PR ranks. "Women traditionally in PR have been held to more of a technician's role, hired and paid to do the work of PR -- the craft, the writing, the media relations, the special events," explains Grunig. "Women are over-represented in technicians' ranks, and under-represented in management." But the suggestion that women might not be getting equal play in decision-making doesn't sit well with the female executives in the industry. Jonelle Birney, the new CEO of the female-helmed PR firm Blanc & Otus, has a small forest of photos and awards in her office from her last job as vice president of public relations at MCI. There's a plaque awarding her the Silver Anvil award for excellence in public relations, snapshots of her sipping wine with the top (male) executives at MCI and a framed photo of her at the press conference announcing the MCI merger with BT. She has, she insists, always been given a seat at the decision-making table with the men. "At MCI the senior people appreciated the role of public relations -- I always felt I was treated like an equal and respected. It was never 'she's the woman,' and I was always in the room," she says. Since she graduated in 1980 with a degree in PR, she says, she's watched her industry become increasingly respected by executives. "Public relations has grown to mean so much, and enough things have gone wrong in the past that corporations have started to realize that they have to take this seriously and be proactive." What, though, does public relations "mean"? Traditionally, it's been seen as a matter of just sending out press releases -- but the women who are helming these positions say that this is changing. Even if public relations truly is a "ghetto," it is one that is wielding increasing power. Public relations has existed as long as individuals have tried to manipulate their image in the public eye. As American industry has grown since World War II, so have pressures on businesses from activists, journalists and consumer groups, and the public relations industry has exploded as a result. "Flacks" can be found everywhere from the White House to newspapers themselves -- anywhere a company wants to make itself look good in the press. But the role of public relations is changing, thanks in part to leaders like Andy Cunningham, CEO of Cunningham Communications, who are consciously trying to make public relations into a sexier industry that involves more than fielding calls from reporters. Cunningham, who began her career in trade journalism in the 1980s and ended up publicizing the launch of the first Macintosh, currently has 140 employees in three offices, and is working to invent what she calls the "new public relations." N E X T_ P A G E .|. The Internet has changed all the rules of public relations - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Become a Salon member. Click here.