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Book Review: PropagandaPosted Wednesday, April 20, 2005  “Propaganda” by Edward Bernays, New York: 1928, 2005 by Anne BernaysHow did the grandson of Sigmund Freud become the father of “public relations”? His book introduced by Mark Crispin Miller and just released in paperback by Anne Bernays shows us how the “master manipulator” used scientific principles and publicity gimmicks combined in propaganda campaigns for his corporate clients. Following World War I, the term propaganda became associated with manipulation, deceit and falsehoods. Edward Bernay’s book was aimed at gaining acceptance for the techniques used during the War to malign the German’s and promote the allies. Bernay’s saw the “Counselor in Public Relations” much like an attorney or doctor defending his corporate client against swings in public opinion. Miller notes in his introduction that even as the people distrust propaganda more and more, propaganda became ever more pervasive as its sponsors marveled at its victories. Bernays believed that as propaganda manipulates the masses, it becomes a necessary, invisible government. Bernays was perhaps eccentric in his support of propaganda. He saw its use as necessary for an orderly society. In a democratic society, propaganda and leadership are necessary to organize the free competition or we would all be inundated with so wide a variety as to create paralysis and chaos. Bernays does not see the ethical dilemma posed by propaganda although he is aware of the manipulation of news, the inflation of personality, and misleading promotion as worthy of criticism but necessary to orderly life. Bernays notes that our society has grown from “local and sectional limitations” to a country were ideas can be transmitted instantaneously to any location and any group. He claims this book is written to explain the mechanism of propaganda and how special pleaders can create public acceptance of particular ideas or products. Where Sigmund Freud explained the mechanism of a person’s mind, Bernays seeks to explain how propaganda works on the collective mind of society. Bernays spends much effort trying to explain why propaganda is a good term with no sinister definition before he embarks on his own definition as “an effort to create or shape events to influence the relations of the public to a particular enterprise, idea or group.’ He later evolves into calling propagandists – “counselors in public relations”. Although I have been a public relations professional for more than 25 years, I was particularly struck by the chapter “The Psychology of Public Relations”. Bernays relates that the group mind has habits, impulses, and emotions beyond those of the individual. The public, he notes, “have their own standards…and you dare not run counter to them.” He also discusses how the public relations professional helps to align business and the public mind. A great read. Other chapters include: Business and the public, propaganda and political leadership, women’s activities and propaganda, propaganda for education, propaganda in social service, art and science and the mechanics of propaganda. |