1 post tagged “journalism”
Walter Lippman (1922), Public Opinion (New York: Free Press: 0684833271).
From the introduction by Ronald Steel:
Earlier in his career Lippman had believed that intellectuals could be philosopher-kings, leading their societies to... wisdom and justice.... [but] his disillusionment with mass democracy, and his concern about propaganda and the unreliability of the press to provide disinterested information, offered him little alternative. His stark conclusion.... "The common interests very largely elude public opinion entirely...."
Although some people considerd Public Opinion antidemocratic, in effect if not in intent, Lippman did not. He not only remained a committed democrat, but he devoted the remainder of his long life to explaining the affairs of state to the general public.... [E]ditorial director of The World.... a syndicated newspaper columnist.... Virtually inventing the serious newspaper column, he exerted an immense influence.... This was not the mark of a man who disdained the public or the average reader.
In his long career.... [Lippman] confirmed not the gloomy parts of Public Opinion but quite the contrary, the optimistic ones--its beliefs that government must serve the people, and that it could do so intelligently if the real nature of public opinion were understood...
