Most readers never think of what goes behind the movie previews and celebrity interviews in the press. Press junets are key in the entertainment industry. Find out how the press behaves at one of these things.

Here's a little something anyone who reads film reviews and feature articles on celebrities should know: press junkets exist.

A press junket is when a film company is about to release a new movie, and they invite various media to go check out the new release. But here's the thing: They pay for everything. They pay for your airfare and hotel accommodations, feed you while you're there, and give you T-shirts and books tied to the movie you're there to see. Here's another catch: They expect an article on whatever it is you're there to see. What you write is up to you, but you should write something.

This reporter was a "press junket virgin" prior to this weekend, when she was invited to one in Los Angeles by Paramount Pictures. She had some ethical questions and a great deal of curiosity about what these junkets were about, so she went to check it out.

Here's what she saw.

Friday

5:30 p.m. - Most of the college and alternative press invited have arrived, and there is reception (complete with gift bags stuffed with "Beavis and Butthead" press material), during which members of the press mingle, exchange names of the college paper and radio stations they work for. Arts editors make up the majority present, along with a few radio people and a couple of writers. Everyone speculates on "how much one of these junket things costs."

Cliques are formed.

8 p.m. - Buses take everyone to the Paramount Pictures studios where "Beavis and Butthead do America" is screened. The creator of the movie, Mike Judge, introduces the movie amidst a great deal of applause and cheering.

10:30 p.m.- Everyone returns to the hotel after the movie. One group goes to the tiresomely infamous Viper Room (you know, the club what's-his-face od'd in front of), some go up to their rooms, but most end up in the hotel bar where they drink away their day's allowance (Paramount Pictures gave each person a daily allowance to spend on food. This was not in cash. Checks were signed up to room numbers).

Saturday

9:15 a.m. - The first bus leaves for the hotel where Judge is giving interviews. He answers questions directed to him by a students with a moderator present, perhaps fearing being mobbed by the small group. Most journalists tell Judge how much they loved "Beavis and Butthead do America." Both Judge and the moderator smile a lot. Judge is rushed for autographs.

Noon - Lunch is served at the same hotel, and more discussion of what these junkets were all about ensues. One journalist from Boston is appalled by the treatment she is receiving at this particular junket.

"We're usually in with the normal press, and the food is waaaay better than this," she says.

"Plus we get round-tables with the stars instead of this conference-style thing."

Some agree, but others remain silent while they sip Perrier and nibble on grilled eggplant and red peppers.

2:30 p.m. - Packed into buses and heading for Paramount Studios for the screening of "Star Trek: First Contact", several of the cliques complain about what they are "putting up with" this weekend. Waiting for buses. Not being allowed to run around Paramount Studio grounds, not being allowed to take pictures of this and that.

5:30 p.m. - The group is sent back to the hotel for a press conference with the cast of "First Contact." No photos are to be taken - all materials needed will be provided by the studio. The conference will also be taped by the studio, so there is no need to set up individual recorders or to take copious notes. The press's unabashed gushing is embarrassing. Most questions are prefaced with "First of all, I'm the hugest Trekker - I've been watching the show for years..."

6:30 p.m -End of junket.

Should journalists go on these press junkets? Consider the possibility that a good review could be bought by a weekend spent in a nice hotel, a few nice meals and a "Beavis and Butthead" mouse-pad, or the bad review that could be the result of a bad encounter with a snotty studio employee. But that's not what concerned this reporter. What she saw was the extent to which even the college press had become accustomed to being pampered. At every turn there were complaints on how long it took for something to start, how the food just wasn't good enough, and how Paramount was not allowing the daily allowance to be spent on massages and in hotel gift shops. Some even spoke of selling the freebies the studio provided (books, T-shirts, etc.) to second-hand stores upon returning home.

Paramount's efforts to please the media are not surprising. They're a business, and they're in this for the money. The disturbing thing about these junkets is the press's reaction to them. Should the college press not operate on slightly more idealistic levels than the mass media?

Not everyone there applauded the stars. Not everyone there gushed. There were those who seemed to be unaffected by a continental breakfast. The junket was also an excellent opportunity for college arts editors to get together and discuss how their respective newspapers worked, swapped ideas, and commiserated. It's also the only way to get interviews and early screenings of movies.

The ethical issue is the behavior of the journalists themselves, and not with the concept of a press junket, since movie studios aren't political entities. They are private businesses. If only newspapers could arrange junket-etiquette training seminars....

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