Fame Games is in fact a very interesting study of 'promotional culture' in Australia from three academics at the University of Queensland who have kind things to say, in return, about the work of Lumby and Wark. In particular, the book charts the rise of 'celebrity culture' in media generally since the early 1980s, and has much to say about the effects and consequences of all this. It sees television as the most important medium for 'celebrity-driven publicity', and notes that while all this often runs secondary to the U.S entertainment machine it has been formative in the production of Australian identities too. The book draws real distinctions between publicising roles to show the complexity and relationality of the local promotional business. The agent is the oldest promotional job, but there are now 'new wave' agents who cultivate more personal relationships with their celebrities.
Publicists are mostly female, again working 'intimately' with clients.
Exposure in one medium, however, may not necessarily help in another. Full integration is not always possible and, besides, media have their own hierarchies, tastes and interests which are often highly exclusive. Fame Games seems to see the ideal celebrity career in terms of being able, finally, to 'take control' of one's destiny. Accordingly, it doesn't like to see vulnerability or bad faith amongst celebrities and promotional people. How promotional industry regulation might work, and to what end, is, however, barely addressed.