Today, when information and disinformation are so widely disseminated—and to such confusing ends—Bernays’ shrewd, skillful, but ethical approach to managing mass opinion contains many lessons that need to be revisited and put to wider use.
First published in 1928, Edward Bernays’ Propaganda may be the single most important work on public relations ever to appear.
Even the most casual reading reveals that the principles he sets out in this short but compelling book remain as true as ever in the present era of social media and AI.
Bernays (1891-1995), a nephew of Sigmund Freud, shaped the management of public opinion at a time when the modern media were beginning to take their present shape.
Writing in the 1920s, he redefined what he called the "new propaganda" as public relations—a name that has stuck ever since.
For Bernays, propaganda, or public relations, is intimately linked to a well-functioning democracy. "Today the privilege of attempting to sway public opinion is everyone’s. It is one of the manifestations of democracy that any one may try to convince others and to assume leadership on behalf of his own thesis."
Democratic government is shaped and directed by public opinion. Bernays tells us that public opinion can be shaped in turn. Public relations is an overwhelmingly powerful tool, but one that should always be focused on the long-term advancement of society.