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diff --git a/old/61364-0.txt b/old/61364-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 45f7842..0000000 --- a/old/61364-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5245 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Crystallizing Public Opinion, by Edward L. Bernays - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Crystallizing Public Opinion - -Author: Edward L. Bernays - -Release Date: February 10, 2020 [EBook #61364] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CRYSTALLIZING PUBLIC OPINION *** - - - - -Produced by Tim Lindell, Charlie Howard, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -book was produced from images made available by the -HathiTrust Digital Library.) - - - - - - - - - - CRYSTALLIZING - PUBLIC OPINION - - EDWARD L. BERNAYS - - - [Illustration] - - - LIVERIGHT PUBLISHING CORPORATION - PUBLISHERS NEW YORK - - - - - _Copyright, 1923, by_ - BONI AND LIVERIGHT, INC. - LIVERIGHT PUBLISHING CORPORATION - - - PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - - - - - TO MY WIFE - - DORIS E. FLEISCHMAN - - - - -PREFACE TO NEW EDITION - - -In the ten years that have elapsed since this book was written, events -of profound importance have taken place. During this period, many of -the principles set forth in the book have been put to the test and have -been proven true. - -The book, for instance, emphasized ten years ago that industrial -organizations dealing with the public must take public opinion into -consideration in the conduct of their affairs. We have seen cases in -the past decade where the public has actually stepped in and publicly -supervised industries which refused to recognize this truth. - -The field of public relations counsel has developed tremendously -in this period. But the broad basic principles, as originally set -forth, are as valid today as they were then, when the profession was -a comparatively new one. It seems appropriate that this new edition, -for which the publishers have asked me to write a new foreword, should -appear at a time when the new partnership of government, labor and -industry has brought public relations and its problems to the fore. -The old group relationships that make up our society have undergone and -are undergoing marked changes. The peaceful harmonizing of all the new -conflicting points of view will be dependent, to a great extent, upon -an understanding and application by leaders of public relations and its -technique. - -In the future, each industry will have to act with increasing -understanding in its relationship to government, to other industries, -to labor, to stockholders and to the public. Each industry must be -cognizant of new conditions and modify its conduct to conform to them -if it is to maintain the good-will of those upon whom it depends for -its very life. - -This principle applies not only to industry; it applies to every kind -of organization and institution that uses special pleading, whether it -be for profit or for any other cause. - -The new social and economic structure in which we live today demands -this new approach to the public. Public relations has come to play an -important part in our life. - -It is hoped that this book may lead to a greater recognition and -application of sound public relations principles. - - E. L. B. - -_January, 1934_ - - - - -FOREWORD - - -In writing this book I have tried to set down the broad principles -that govern the new profession of public relations counsel. These -principles I have on the one hand substantiated by the findings of -psychologists, sociologists, and newspapermen--Ray Stannard Baker, -W. G. Bleyer, Richard Washburn Child, Elmer Davis, John L. Given, Will -Irwin, Francis E. Leupp, Walter Lippmann, William MacDougall, Everett -Dean Martin, H. L. Mencken, Rollo Ogden, Charles J. Rosebault, William -Trotter, Oswald Garrison Villard, and others to whom I owe a debt of -gratitude for their clear analyses of the public’s mind and habits; -and on the other hand, I have illustrated these principles by a number -of specific examples which serve to bear them out. I have quoted from -the men listed here, because the ground covered by them is part of the -field of activity of the public relations counsel. The actual cases -which I have cited were selected because they explain the application -of the theories to practice. Most of the illustrative material is drawn -from my personal experience; a few examples from my observation of -events. I have preferred to cite facts known to the general public, -in order that I might explain graphically a profession that has little -precedent, and whose few formulated rules have necessarily a limitless -number and variety of applications. - -This profession in a few years has developed from the status of circus -agent stunts to what is obviously an important position in the conduct -of the world’s affairs. - -If I shall, by this survey of the field, stimulate a scientific -attitude towards the study of public relations, I shall feel that this -book has fulfilled my purpose in writing it. - - E. L. B. - -December, 1923. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PART I--SCOPE AND FUNCTIONS - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I THE SCOPE OF THE PUBLIC RELATIONS COUNSEL 11 - - II THE PUBLIC RELATIONS COUNSEL; THE INCREASED AND - INCREASING IMPORTANCE OF THE PROFESSION 34 - - III THE FUNCTION OF A SPECIAL PLEADER 50 - - - PART II--THE GROUP AND HERD - - I WHAT CONSTITUTES PUBLIC OPINION? 61 - - II IS PUBLIC OPINION STUBBORN OR MALLEABLE? 69 - - III THE INTERACTION OF PUBLIC OPINION WITH THE FORCES THAT - HELP TO MAKE IT 77 - - IV THE POWER OF INTERACTING FORCES THAT GO TO MAKE UP PUBLIC - OPINION 87 - - V AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF PUBLIC MOTIVATION - IS NECESSARY TO THE WORK OF THE PUBLIC RELATIONS COUNSEL - 98 - - VI THE GROUP AND HERD ARE THE BASIC MECHANISMS OF PUBLIC - CHANGE 111 - - VII THE APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 118 - - - PART III--TECHNIQUE AND METHOD - - I THE PUBLIC CAN BE REACHED ONLY THROUGH ESTABLISHED - MEDIUMS OF COMMUNICATION 125 - - II THE INTERLAPPING GROUP FORMATIONS OF SOCIETY, THE - CONTINUOUS SHIFTING OF GROUPS, CHANGING CONDITIONS AND - THE FLEXIBILITY OF HUMAN NATURE ARE ALL AIDS TO THE - COUNSEL ON PUBLIC RELATIONS 139 - - III AN OUTLINE OF METHODS PRACTICABLE IN MODIFYING THE POINT - OF VIEW OF A GROUP 166 - - - PART IV--ETHICAL RELATIONS - - I A CONSIDERATION OF THE PRESS AND OTHER MEDIUMS OF - COMMUNICATION IN THEIR RELATION TO THE PUBLIC RELATIONS - COUNSEL 177 - - II HIS OBLIGATIONS TO THE PUBLIC AS A SPECIAL PLEADER 208 - - - - -PART I - -SCOPE AND FUNCTIONS - - - - -CRYSTALLIZING PUBLIC OPINION - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE SCOPE OF THE PUBLIC RELATIONS COUNSEL - - -A new phrase has come into the language--counsel on public relations. -What does it mean? - -As a matter of fact, the actual phrase is completely understood by -only a few, and those only the people intimately associated with the -work itself. But despite this, the activities of the public relations -counsel affect the daily life of the entire population in one form or -another. - -Because of the recent extraordinary growth of the profession of public -relations counsel and the lack of available information concerning -it, an air of mystery has surrounded its scope and functions. To the -average person, this profession is still unexplained, both in its -operation and actual accomplishment. Perhaps the most definite picture -is that of a man who somehow or other produces that vaguely defined -evil, “propaganda,” which spreads an impression that colors the mind -of the public concerning actresses, governments, railroads. And yet, -as will be pointed out shortly, there is probably no single profession -which within the last ten years has extended its field of usefulness -more remarkably and touched upon intimate and important aspects of the -everyday life of the world more significantly than the profession of -public relations counsel. - -There is not even any one name by which the new profession is -characterized by others. To some the public relations counsel is known -by the term “propagandist.” Others still call him press agent or -publicity man. Writing even within the last few years, John L. Given, -the author of an excellent textbook on journalism, does not mention the -public relations counsel. He limits his reference to the old-time press -agent. Many organizations simply do not bother about an individual name -and assign to an existing officer the duties of the public relations -counsel. One bank’s vice-president is its recognized public relations -counsel. Some dismiss the subject or condemn the entire profession -generally and all its members individually. - -Slight examination into the grounds for this disapproval readily -reveals that it is based on nothing more substantial than vague -impressions. - -Indeed, it is probably true that the very men who are themselves -engaged in the profession are as little ready or able to define their -work as is the general public itself. Undoubtedly this is due, in -some measure, to the fact that the profession is a new one. Much more -important than that, however, is the fact that most human activities -are based on experience rather than analysis. - -Judge Cardozo of the Court of Appeals of the State of New York finds -the same absence of functional definition in the judicial mind. “The -work of deciding cases,” he says, “goes on every day in hundreds of -courts throughout the land. Any judge, one might suppose, would find -it easy to describe the process which he had followed a thousand times -and more. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Let some intelligent -layman ask him to explain. He will not go very far before taking refuge -in the excuse that the language of craftsmen is unintelligible to those -untutored in the craft. Such an excuse may cover with a semblance -of respectability an otherwise ignominious retreat. It will hardly -serve to still the prick of curiosity and conscience. In moments of -introspection, when there is no longer a necessity of putting off with -a show of wisdom the uninitiated interlocutor, the troublesome problem -will recur and press for a solution: What is it that I do when I decide -a case?”[1] - -From my own records and from current history still fresh in the public -mind, I have selected a few instances which only in a limited measure -give some idea of the variety of the public relations counsel’s work -and of the type of problem which he attempts to solve. - -These examples show him in his position as one who directs and -supervises the activities of his clients wherever they impinge upon -the daily life of the public. He interprets the client to the public, -which he is enabled to do in part because he interprets the public to -the client. His advice is given on all occasions on which his client -appears before the public, whether it be in concrete form or as an -idea. His advice is given not only on actions which take place, but -also on the use of mediums which bring these actions to the public it -is desired to reach, no matter whether these mediums be the printed, -the spoken or the visualized word--that is, advertising, lectures, the -stage, the pulpit, the newspaper, the photograph, the wireless, the -mail or any other form of thought communication. - -A nationally famous New York hotel found that its business was falling -off at an alarming rate because of a rumor that it was shortly going -to close and that the site upon which it was located would be occupied -by a department store. Few things are more mysterious than the origins -of rumors, or the credence which they manage to obtain. Reservations at -this hotel for weeks and months ahead were being canceled by persons -who had heard the rumor and accepted it implicitly. - -The problem of meeting this rumor (which like many rumors had no -foundation in fact) was not only a difficult but a serious one. Mere -denial, of course, no matter how vigorous or how widely disseminated, -would accomplish little. - -The mere statement of the problem made it clear to the public relations -counsel who was retained by the hotel that the only way to overcome the -rumor was to give the public some positive evidence of the intention of -the hotel to remain in business. It happened that the _maître d’hôtel_ -was about as well known as the hotel itself. His contract was about to -expire. The public relations counsel suggested a very simple device. - -“Renew his engagement immediately for a term of years,” he said. “Then -make public announcement of the fact. Nobody who hears of the renewal -or the amount of money involved will believe for a moment that you -intend to go out of business.” The _maître d’hôtel_ was called in and -offered a five-year engagement. His salary was one which many bank -presidents might envy. Public announcement of his engagement was made. -The _maître d’hôtel_ was himself something of a national figure. The -salary stipulated was not without popular interest from both points of -view. The story was one which immediately interested the newspapers. -A national press service took up the story and sent it out to all its -subscribers. The cancellation of reservations stopped and the rumor -disappeared. - -A nationally known magazine was ambitious to increase its prestige -among a more influential group of advertisers. It had never made any -effort to reach this public except through its own direct circulation. -The consultant who was retained by the magazine quickly discovered that -much valuable editorial material appearing in the magazine was allowed -to go to waste. Features of interest to thousands of potential readers -were never called to their attention unless they happened accidentally -to be readers of the magazine. - -The public relations counsel showed how to extend the field of their -appeal. He chose for his first work an extremely interesting article -by a well-known physician, written about the interesting thesis that -“the pace that kills” is the slow, deadly, dull routine pace and not -the pace of life under high pressure, based on work which interests -and excites. The consultant arranged to have the thesis of the article -made the basis of an inquiry among business and professional men -throughout the country by another physician associated with a medical -journal. Hundreds of members of “the quality public,” as they are known -to advertisers, had their attention focused on the article, and the -magazine which the consultant was engaged in counseling on its public -relations. - -The answers from these leading men of the country were collated, -analyzed, and the resulting abstract furnished gratuitously to -newspapers, magazines and class journals, which published them widely. -Organizations of business and professional men reprinted the symposium -by the thousands and distributed it free of charge, doing so because -the material contained in the symposium was of great interest. A -distinguished visitor from abroad, Lord Leverhulme, became interested -in the question while in this country and made the magazine and -the article the basis of an address before a large and influential -conference in England. Nationally and internationally the magazine -was called to the attention of a public which had, up to that time, -considered it perhaps a publication of no serious social significance. - -Still working with the same magazine, the publicity consultant advised -it how to widen its influence with another public on quite a different -issue. He took as his subject an article by Sir Philip Gibbs, “The -Madonna of the Hungry Child,” dealing with the famine situation in -Europe and the necessity for its prompt alleviation. The article was -brought to the attention of Herbert Hoover. Mr. Hoover was so impressed -by the article that he sent the magazine a letter of commendation for -publishing it. He also sent a copy of the article to members of his -relief committees throughout the country. The latter, in turn, used -the article to obtain support and contributions for relief work. Thus, -while an important humanitarian project was being materially assisted, -the magazine in question was adding to its own influence and standing. - -Now, the interesting thing about this work is that whereas the public -relations counsel added nothing to the contents of the magazine, which -had for years been publishing material of this nature, he did make its -importance felt and appreciated. - -A large packing house was faced with the problem of increasing the -sale of its particular brand of bacon. It already dominated the -market in its field; the problem was therefore one of increasing -the consumption of bacon generally, for its dominance of the market -would naturally continue. The public relations counsel, realizing that -hearty breakfasts were dietetically sound, suggested that a physician -undertake a survey to make this medical truth articulate. He realized -that the demand for bacon as a breakfast food would naturally be -increased by the wide dissemination of this truth. This is exactly what -happened. - -A hair-net company had to solve the problem created by the increasing -vogue of bobbed hair. Bobbed hair was eliminating the use of the -hair-net. The public relations counsel, after investigation, advised -that the opinions of club women as leaders of the women of the country -should be made articulate on the question. Their expressed opinion, -he believed, would definitely modify the bobbed hair vogue. A leading -artist was interested in the subject and undertook a survey among the -club women leaders of the country. The resultant responses confirmed -the public relations counsel’s judgment. The opinions of these women -were given to the public and helped to arouse what had evidently been -a latent opinion on the question. Long hair was made socially more -acceptable than bobbed hair and the vogue for the latter was thereby -partially checked. - -A real estate corporation on Long Island was interested in selling -coöperative apartments to a high-class clientele. In order to do this, -it realized that it had to impress upon the public the fact that this -community, within easy reach of Manhattan, was socially, economically, -artistically and morally desirable. On the advice of its public -relations counsel, instead of merely proclaiming itself as such a -community, it proved its contentions dramatically by making itself an -active center for all kinds of community manifestations. - -When it opened its first post office, for instance, it made this local -event nationally interesting. The opening was a formal one. National -figures became interested in what might have been merely a local event. - -The reverses which the Italians suffered on the Piave in 1918 were -dangerous to Italian and Allied morale. One of the results was the -awakening of a distrust among Italians as to the sincerity of American -promises of military, financial and moral support for the Italian cause. - -It became imperative vividly to dramatize for Italy the reality of -American coöperation. As one of the means to this end the Committee -on Public Information decided that the naming of a recently completed -American ship should be made the occasion for a demonstration of -friendship which could be reflected in every possible way to the -Italians. - -Prominent Italians in America were invited by the public relations -counsel to participate in the launching of the _Piave_. Motion and -still pictures were taken of the event. The news of the launching and -of its significance to Americans was telegraphed to Italian newspapers. -At the same time a message from Italian-Americans was transmitted -to Italy expressing their confidence in America’s assistance of -the Italian cause. Enrico Caruso, Gatti-Casazza, director of the -Metropolitan Opera, and others highly regarded by their countrymen in -Italy, sent inspiriting telegrams which had a decided effect in raising -Italian morale, so far as it depended upon assurance of American -coöperation. Other means employed to disseminate information of this -event had the same effect. - -The next incident that I have selected is one which conforms more -closely than some of the others to the popular conception of the work -of the public relations counsel. In the spring and summer of 1919 the -problem of fitting ex-service men into the ordinary life of America -was serious and difficult. Thousands of men just back from abroad were -having a trying time finding work. After their experience in the war it -was not surprising that they should be extremely ready to feel bitter -against the Government and against those Americans who for one reason -or another had not been in any branch of the service during the war. - -The War Department under Colonel Arthur Woods, assistant to the -Secretary of War, instituted a nation-wide campaign to assist those -men to obtain employment, and more than that, to manifest to them as -concretely as it could that the Government continued its interest in -their welfare. The incident to which I refer occurred during this -campaign. - -In July of 1919 there was such a shortage of labor in Kansas that it -was feared a large proportion of the wheat crop could not possibly be -harvested. The activities of the War Department in the reëmployment of -ex-service men had already received wide publicity, and the Chamber -of Commerce of Kansas City appealed directly to the War Department -at Washington, after its own efforts in many other directions had -failed, for a supply of men who would assist in the harvesting of the -wheat crop. The public relations counsel prepared a statement of this -opportunity for employment in Kansas and distributed it to the public -through the newspapers throughout the country. The Associated Press -sent the statement over its wires as a news dispatch. Within four days -the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce wired to the War Department that -enough labor had been secured to harvest the wheat crop, and asked -the War Department to announce that fact as publicly as it had first -announced the need for labor. - -By contrast with this last instance, and as an illustration of a type -of work less well understood by the public, I cite another incident -from the same campaign for the reëstablishment of ex-service men to -normal economic and social relations. The problem of reëmployment was, -of course, the crux of the difficulty. Various measures were adopted -to obtain the coöperation of business men in extending employment -opportunities to ex-members of the Army, Navy and Marines. One of these -devices appealed to the personal and local pride of American business -men, and stressed their obligation of honor to reëmploy their former -employees upon release from Government service. - -A citation was prepared, signed by the Secretary of War, the Secretary -of the Navy and the Assistant to the Secretary of War for display in -the stores and factories of employers who assured the War and Navy -Departments that they would reëmploy their ex-service men. Simultaneous -display of these citations was arranged for Bastile Day, July 14, 1919, -by members of the Fifth Avenue Association. - -The Fifth Avenue Association of New York City, an influential group -of business men, was perhaps the first to coöperate as a body in this -important campaign for the reëmployment of ex-service men. Concerted -action on a subject which was as much in the public mind as the -reëmployment of ex-service men was particularly interesting. The story -of what these leaders in American business had undertaken to do went -out to the country by mail, by word of mouth, by newspaper comment. -Their example was potent in obtaining the coöperation of business men -throughout the land. An appeal based on this action and capitalizing -it was sent to thousands of individual business men and employers -throughout the country. It was effective. - -An illustration which embodies most of the technical and psychological -points of interest in the preceding incidents may be found in -Lithuania’s campaign in this country in 1919, for popular sympathy -and official recognition. Lithuania was of considerable political -importance in the reorganization of Europe, but it was a country little -known or understood by the American public. An added difficulty was the -fact that the independence of Lithuania would interfere seriously with -the plans which France had for the establishment of a strong Poland. -There were excellent historical, ethnic and economic reasons why, if -Lithuania broke off from Russia, it should be allowed to stand on its -own feet. On the other hand there were powerful political influences -which were against such a result. The American attitude on the question -of Lithuanian independence, it was felt, would play an important -part. The question was how to arouse popular and official interest in -Lithuania’s aspirations. - -A Lithuanian National Council was organized, composed of prominent -American-Lithuanians, and a Lithuanian Information Bureau established -to act as a clearing house for news about Lithuania and for special -pleading on behalf of Lithuania’s ambitions. The public relations -counsel who was retained to direct this work recognized that the first -problem to be solved was America’s indifference to and ignorance about -Lithuania and its desires. - -He had an exhaustive study made of every conceivable aspect of -the problem of Lithuania from its remote and recent history and -ethnic origins to its present-day marriage customs and its popular -recreations. He divided his material into its various categories, based -primarily on the public to which it would probably make its appeal. -For the amateur ethnologist he provided interesting and accurate data -of the racial origins of Lithuania. To the student of languages he -appealed with authentic and well written studies of the development of -the Lithuanian language from its origins in the Sanskrit. He told the -“sporting fan” about Lithuanian sports and told American women about -Lithuanian clothes. He told the jeweler about amber and provided the -music lover with concerts of Lithuanian music. - -To the senators, he gave facts about Lithuania which would give -them basis for favorable action. To the members of the House of -Representatives he did likewise. He reflected to those communities -whose crystallized opinion would be helpful in guiding other opinions, -facts which gave them basis for conclusions favorable to Lithuania. - -A series of events which would carry with them the desired implications -were planned and executed. Mass meetings were held in different cities; -petitions were drawn, signed and presented; pilgrims made calls upon -Senate and House of Representatives Committees. All the avenues of -approach to the public were utilized to capitalize the public interest -and bring public action. The mails carried statements of Lithuania’s -position to individuals who might be interested. The lecture platform -resounded to Lithuania’s appeal. Newspaper advertising was bought and -paid for. The radio carried the message of speakers to the public. -Motion pictures reached the patrons of moving picture houses. - -Little by little and phase by phase, the public, the press and -Government officials acquired a knowledge of the customs, the character -and the problems of Lithuania, the small Baltic nation that was seeking -freedom. - -When the Lithuanian Information Bureau went before the press -associations to correct inaccurate or misleading Polish news about the -Lithuanian situation, it came there as representative of a group which -had figured largely in the American news for a number of weeks, as a -result of the advice and activities of its public relations counsel. -In the same way, when delegations of Americans, interested in the -Lithuanian problem, appeared before members of Congress or officials -of the State Department, they came there as spokesmen for a country -which was no longer unknown. They represented a group which could no -longer be entirely ignored. Somebody described this campaign, once it -had achieved recognition for the Baltic republic, as the campaign of -“advertising a nation to freedom.” - -What happened with Roumania is another instance. Roumania wanted to -plead its case before the American people. It wanted to tell Americans -that it was an ancient and established country. The original technique -was the issuance of treatises, historically correct and ethnologically -accurate. Their facts were for the large part ignored. The public -relations counsel, called in on the case of Roumania, advised them to -make these studies into interesting stories of news value. The public -read these stories with avidity and Roumania became part of America’s -popular knowledge with consequent valuable results for Roumania. - -The hotels of New York City discovered that there was a falling off of -business and profits. Fewer visitors came to New York. Fewer travelers -passed through New York on their way to Europe. The public relations -counsel who was consulted and asked to remedy the situation, made an -extensive analysis. He talked to visitors. He queried men and women -who represented groups, sections and opinions of main cities and -towns throughout the country. He examined American literature--books, -magazines, newspapers, and classified attacks made on New York and New -York citizens. He found that the chief cause for lack of interest in -New York was the belief that New York was “cold and inhospitable.” - -He found animosity and bitterness against New York’s apparent -indifference to strangers was keeping away a growing number of -travelers. To counteract this damaging wave of resentment, he called -together the leading groups, industrial, social and civic, of New -York, and formed the Welcome Stranger Committee. The friendly and -hospitable aims of this committee, broadcasted to the nation, helped -to reëstablish New York’s good repute. Congratulatory editorials were -printed in the rural and city journals of the country. - -Again, in analyzing the restaurant service of a prominent hotel, he -discovers that its menu is built on the desires of the average eater -and that a large group of people with children desire special foods -for them. He may then advise his client to institute a children’s diet -service. - -This was done specifically with the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, which -instituted special menus for children. This move, which excited wide -comment, was economically and dietetically sound. - -In its campaign to educate the public on the importance of early radium -treatments for incipient cancer, the United States Radium Corporation -founded the First National Radium Bank, in order to create and -crystallize the impression that radium is and should be available to -all physicians who treat cancer sufferers. - -An inter-city radio company planned to open a wireless service between -the three cities of New York, Detroit and Cleveland. This company might -merely have opened its service and waited for the public to send its -messages, but the president of the organization realized astutely that -to succeed in any measure at all he must have immediate public support. -He called in a public relations counsel, who advised an elaborate -inauguration ceremony, in which the mayors of the three cities thus -for the first time connected, would officiate. The mayor of each city -officially received and sent the first messages issued on commercial -inter-city radio waves. These openings excited wide interest, not only -in the three cities directly concerned, but throughout the entire -country. - -Shortly after the World War, the King and Queen of the Belgians visited -America. One of the many desired results of this visit was that it -should be made apparent that America, with all the foreign elements -represented in its body, was unified in its support of King Albert -and his country. To present a graphic picture of the affection which -the national elements here had for the Belgian monarch, a performance -was staged at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, at which -the many nationalist groups were represented and gave voice to their -approval. The story of the Metropolitan Opera House performance was -spread in the news columns and by photographs in the press throughout -the world. It was evident to all who saw the pictures or read the story -that this king had really stirred the affectionate interest of the -national elements that make up America. - -An interesting illustration of the broad field of work of the public -relations counsel to-day is noted in the efforts which were exerted to -secure wide commendation and support among Americans for the League -of Nations. Obviously a small group of persons, banded together for -the sole purpose of furthering the appeal of the League, would have no -powerful effect. In order to secure a certain homogeneity among the -members of groups who individually had widely varied interests and -affiliations, it was decided to form a non-partisan committee for the -League of Nations. - -The public relations consultant, having assisted in the formation of -this committee, called a meeting of women representing Democratic, -Republican, radical, reactionary, club, society, professional and -industrial groups, and suggested that they make a united appeal for -national support of the League of Nations. This meeting accurately and -dramatically reflected disinterested and unified support of the League. -The public relations counsel made articulate what would otherwise have -remained a strong passive sentiment. The still insistent demand for -the League of Nations is undoubtedly due in part to efforts of this -nature. - -Cases as diverse as the following are the daily work of the public -relations counsel. One client is advised to give up a Rolls-Royce car -and to buy a Ford, because the public has definite concepts of what -ownership of each represents--another man may be given the contrary -advice. One client is advised to withdraw the hat-check privilege, -because it causes unfavorable public comment. Another is advised to -change the façade of his building to conform to a certain public taste. - -One client is advised to announce changes of price policy to the public -by telegraph, another by circular, another by advertising. One client -is advised to publish a Bible, another a book of French Renaissance -tales. - -One department store is advised to use prices in its advertising, -another store not to mention them. - -A client is advised to make his labor policy, the hygienic aspect of -his factory, his own personality, part of his sales campaign. - -Another client is advised to exhibit his wares in a museum and school. - -Still another is urged to found a scholarship in his subject at a -leading university. - -Further incidents could be given here, illustrating different aspects -of the ordinary daily functions of the public relations counsel--how, -for example, the production of “Damaged Goods” in America became -the basis of the first notably successful move in this country for -overcoming the prudish refusal to appreciate and face the place of -sex in human life; or how, more recently, the desire of some great -corporations to increase their business was, through the advice of -Ivy Lee, their public relations counsel, made the basis of popular -education on the importance of brass and copper to civilization. Enough -has been cited, however, to show how little the average member of the -public knows of the real work of the public relations counsel, and -how that work impinges upon the daily life of the public in an almost -infinite number of ways. - -Popular misunderstanding of the work of the public relations counsel is -easily comprehensible because of the short period of his development. -Nevertheless, the fact remains that he has become in recent years too -important a figure in American life for this ignorance to be safely or -profitably continued. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE PUBLIC RELATIONS COUNSEL; THE INCREASED AND INCREASING IMPORTANCE -OF THE PROFESSION - - -The rise of the modern public relations counsel is based on the need -for and the value of his services. Perhaps the most significant -social, political and industrial fact about the present century is -the increased attention which is paid to public opinion, not only by -individuals, groups or movements that are dependent on public support -for their success, but also by men and organizations which until very -recently stood aloof from the general public and were able to say, “The -public be damned.” - -The public to-day demands information and expects also to be accepted -as judge and jury in matters that have a wide public import. The -public, whether it invests its money in subway or railroad tickets, -in hotel rooms or restaurant fare, in silk or soap, is a highly -sophisticated body. It asks questions, and if the answer in word or -action is not forthcoming or satisfactory, it turns to other sources -for information or relief. - -The willingness to spend thousands of dollars in obtaining -professional advice on how best to present one’s views or products to a -public is based on this fact. - -On every side of American life, whether political, industrial, social, -religious or scientific, the increasing pressure of public judgment has -made itself felt. Generally speaking, the relationship and interaction -of the public and any movement is rather obvious. The charitable -society which depends upon voluntary contributions for its support -has a clear and direct interest in being favorably represented before -the public. In the same way, the great corporation which is in danger -of having its profits taxed away or its sales fall off or its freedom -impeded by legislative action must have recourse to the public to -combat successfully these menaces. Behind these obvious phenomena, -however, lie three recent tendencies of fundamental importance; first, -the tendency of small organizations to aggregate into groups of such -size and importance that the public tends to regard them as semi-public -services; second, the increased readiness of the public, due to the -spread of literacy and democratic forms of government, to feel that it -is entitled to its voice in the conduct of these large aggregations, -political, capitalist or labor, or whatever they may be; third, the -keen competition for public favor due to modern methods of “selling.” - -An example of the first tendency--that is, the tendency toward an -increased public interest in industrial activity, because of the -increasing social importance of industrial aggregations--may be found -in an article on “The Critic and the Law” by Richard Washburn Child, -published in the _Atlantic Monthly_ for May, 1906. - -Mr. Child discusses in that article the right of the critic to say -uncomplimentary things about matters of public interest. He points -out the legal basis for the right to criticize plays and novels. Then -he adds, “A vastly more important and interesting theory, and one -which must arise from the present state and tendency of industrial -conditions, is whether the acts of men in commercial activity may -ever become so prominent and so far reaching in their effect that -they compel a universal public interest and that public comment is -impliedly invited by reason of their conspicuous and semi-public -nature. It may be said that at no time have private industries become -of such startling interest to the community at large as at present -in the United States.” How far present-day tendencies have borne out -Mr. Child’s expectation of a growing and accepted public interest in -important industrial enterprises, the reader can judge for himself. - -With regard to the second tendency--the increased readiness of the -public to expect information about and to be heard on matters of -political and social interest--Ray Stannard Baker’s description of -the American journalist at the Peace Conference of Versailles gives -an excellent picture. Mr. Baker tells what a shock American newspaper -men gave Old World diplomats because at the Paris conference they -“had come, not begging, but demanding. They sat at every doorway,” -says Mr. Baker. “They looked over every shoulder. They wanted every -resolution and report and wanted it immediately. I shall never forget -the delegation of American newspaper men, led by John Nevin, I saw -come striding through that Holy of Holies, the French Foreign Office, -demanding that they be admitted to the first general session of the -Peace Conference. They horrified the upholders of the old methods, they -desperately offended the ancient conventions, they were as rough and -direct as democracy itself.” - -And I shall never forget the same feeling brought home to me, when -Herbert Bayard Swope of the _New York World_, in the press room at -the Crillon Hotel in Paris, led the discussion of the newspaper -representatives who forced the conference to regard public opinion and -admit newspaper men, and give out communiques daily. - -That the pressure of the public for admittance to the mysteries of -foreign affairs is being felt by the nations of the world may be seen -from the following dispatch published in the _New York Herald_ under -the date line of the _New York Herald_ Bureau, Paris, January 17, -1922: “The success of Lord Riddell in getting publicity for British -opinion during the Washington conference, while the French viewpoint -was not stressed, may result in the appointment by the Poincaré -Government of a real propaganda agent to meet the foreign newspaper -men. The _Eclair_ to-day calls on the new premier to ‘find his own -Lord Riddell in the French diplomatic and parliamentary world, who can -give the world the French interpretation.’” Walter Lippmann of the -_New York World_ in his volume “Public Opinion” declares that “the -significant revolution of modern times is not industrial or economic -or political, but the revolution which is taking place in the art of -creating consent among the governed.” He goes on: “Within the life of -the new generation now in control of affairs, persuasion has become a -self-conscious art and a regular organ of popular government. None of -us begins to understand the consequences, but it is no daring prophecy -to say that the knowledge of how to create consent will alter every -political premise. Under the impact of propaganda, not necessarily -in the sinister meaning of the word alone, the only constants of our -thinking have become variables. It is no longer possible, for example, -to believe in the cardinal dogma of democracy, that the knowledge -needed for the management of human affairs comes up spontaneously from -the human heart. Where we act on that theory we expose ourselves to -self-deception and to forms of persuasion that we cannot verify. It has -been demonstrated that we cannot rely upon intuition, conscience, or -the accidents of casual opinion if we are to deal with the world beyond -our reach.”[2] - -In domestic affairs the importance of public opinion not only in -political decisions but in the daily industrial life of the nation may -be seen from numerous incidents. In the _New York Times_ of Friday, -May 20, 1922, I find almost a column article with the heading “Hoover -Prescribes Publicity for Coal.” Among the improvements in the coal -industry generally, which Mr. Hoover, according to the dispatch, -anticipates from widespread, accurate and informative publicity about -the industry itself, are the stimulation of industrial consumers -to more regular demands, the ability to forecast more reliably the -volume of demand, the ability of the consumer to “form some judgment -as to the prices he should pay for coal,” and the tendency to hold -down over-expansion in the industry by publication of the ratio of -production to capacity. Mr. Hoover concludes that really informative -publicity “would protect the great majority of operators from the -criticism that can only be properly leveled at the minority.” Not -so many years ago neither the majority nor the minority in the coal -industry would have concerned itself about public criticism of the -industry. - -From coal to jewelry seems rather a long step, and yet in _The -Jeweler’s Circular_, a trade magazine, I find much comment upon the -National Jewelers’ Publicity Association. This association began with -the simple commercial ambition of acquainting the public with “the -value of jewelry merchandise for gift purposes”; now it finds itself -engaged in eliminating from the public mind in general, and from the -minds of legislators in particular, the impression that “the jewelry -business is absolutely useless and that any money spent in a jewelry -store is thrown away.” - -Not so long ago it would scarcely have occurred to any one in the -jewelry industry that there was any importance to be attached to the -opinion of the public on the essential or non-essential character of -the jewelry industry. To-day, on the other hand, jewelers find it a -profitable investment to bring before the people the fact that table -silver is an essential in modern life, and that without watches “the -business and industries of the nations would be a sad chaos.” With all -the other competing interests in the world to-day, the question as to -whether the public considers the business of manufacturing and selling -jewelry essential or non-essential is a matter of the first importance -to the industry. - -The best examples, of course, of the increasing importance of public -opinion to industries which until recently scarcely concerned -themselves with the existence or non-existence of a public opinion -about them, are those industries which are charged with a public -interest. - -In a long article about the attitude of the public towards the -railroads, the _Railway Age_ reaches the conclusion that the most -important problem which American railroads must solve is “the problem -of selling themselves to the public.” Some public utilities maintain -public relations departments, whose function it is to interpret the -organizations to the public, as much as to interpret the public to -them. The significant thing, however, is not the accepted importance of -public opinion in this or the other individual industry, but the fact -that public opinion is becoming cumulatively more and more articulate -and therefore more important to industrial life as a whole. - -The New York Central Railroad, for example, maintains a Public -Relations Department under Pitt Hand, whose function it is to make it -clear to the public that the railroad is functioning efficiently to -serve the public in every possible way. This department studies the -public and tries to discover where the railroad’s service can be mended -or improved, or when wrong or harmful impressions upon the public mind -may be corrected. - -This Public Relations Department finds it profitable not only to bring -to the attention of the public the salient facts about its trains, its -time tables, and its actual traveling facilities, but also to build -up a broadly coöperative spirit that is indirectly of great value to -itself and benefit to the public. It coöperates, for example, with -such movements as the Welcome Stranger Committee of New York City in -distributing literature to travelers to assist them when they reach -the city. It coöperates with conventions, to the extent of arranging -special travel facilities. Such aids as it affords to the directors -of children’s camps at the Grand Central Station are especially -conspicuous for their dramatic effect on the general public. - -Even a service which is in a large measure non-competitive must -continually “sell” itself to the public, as evidenced by the strenuous -efforts of the New York subways and elevated lines to keep themselves -constantly before the people in the most favorable possible aspect. The -subways strive in this regard to create a feeling of submissiveness -toward inconveniences which are more or less unavoidable, and they -strive likewise to fulfill such constructive programs as that of -extending traffic on less frequented lines. - -Let us analyze, for example, the activities of the health departments -of such large cities as New York. Of recent years, Health Commissioner -Royal S. Copeland and his statements have formed a fairly regular part -of the day’s news. Publicity is, in fact, one of the major functions of -the Health Department, inasmuch as its constructive work depends to a -considerable extent upon the public education it provides in combating -evils and in building up a spirit of individual and group coöperation -in all health matters. When the Health Department recognizes that such -diseases as cancer, tuberculosis and those following malnutrition -are due generally to ignorance or neglect and that amelioration or -prevention will be the result of knowledge, it is the next logical step -for this department to devote strenuous efforts to its public relations -campaign. The department accordingly does exactly this. - -Even governments to-day act upon the principle that it is not -sufficient to govern their own citizens well and to assure the people -that they are acting whole-heartedly in their behalf. They understand -that the public opinion of the entire world is important to their -welfare. Thus Lithuania, already noted, while it had the unbounded love -and support of its own people, was nevertheless in danger of extinction -because it was unknown outside of the immediate boundaries of those -nations which had a personal interest in it. Lithuania was wanted by -Poland; it was wanted by Russia. It was ignored by other nations. -Therefore, through the aid of a public relations expert, Lithuania -issued pamphlets, it paraded, it figured in pictures and motion -pictures and developed a favorable sentiment throughout the world that -in the end gave Lithuania its freedom. - -In industry and business, of course, there is another consideration -of first-rate importance, besides the danger of interference by the -public in the conduct of the industry--the increasing intensity of -competition. Business and sales are no longer to be had, if ever -they were to be had for the asking. It must be clear to any one who -has looked through the mass of advertising in street cars, subways, -newspapers and magazines, and the other avenues of approach to the -public, that products and services press hard upon one another in the -effort to focus public attention on their offerings and to induce -favorable action. - -The keen competition in the selling of products for public favor makes -it imperative that the seller consider other things than merely his -product in trying to build up a favorable public reaction. He must -either himself appraise the public mind and his relation to it or he -must engage the services of an expert who can aid him to do this. He -may to-day consider, for instance, in his sales campaign, not only the -quality of his soap but the working conditions, the hours of labor, -even the living conditions of the men who make it. - -The public relations counsel must advise him on these factors as well -as on their presentation to the public most interested in them. - -In this state of affairs it is not at all surprising that industrial -leaders should give the closest attention to public relations in both -the broadest and the most practical concept of the term. - -Large industrial groups, in their associations, have assigned a -definite place to public relations bureaus. - -The Trade Association Executives in New York, an association of -individual executives of state, territorial or national trade -associations, such as the Allied Wall Paper Industry, the American -Hardware Manufacturers’ Association, the American Protective Tariff -League, the Atlantic Coast Shipbuilders’ Association, the National -Association of Credit Men, the Silk Association of America and some -seventy-four others, includes among its associations’ functions such -activities as the following: coöperative advertising; adjustments and -collections; cost accounting; a credit bureau; distribution and new -markets; educational, standardization and research work; exhibits; a -foreign trade bureau; house organs; general publicity; an industrial -bureau; legislative work; legal aid; market reports; statistics; a -traffic department; Washington representation; arbitration. It is -noteworthy that forty of these associations have incorporated public -relations with general publicity as a definite part of their program in -furthering the interests of their organizations. - -The American Telephone and Telegraph Company devotes effort to studying -its public relations problems, not only to increase its volume of -business, but also to create a coöperative spirit between itself and -the public. The work of the telephone company’s operators, statistics, -calls, lineage, installations are given to the public in various forms. -During the war and for a period afterwards its main problem was that of -satisfying the public that its service was necessarily below standard -because of the peculiar national conditions. The public, in response to -the efforts of the company, which were analogous to a gracious personal -apology, accepted more or less irksome conditions as a matter of -course. Had the company not cared about the public, the public would -undoubtedly have been unpleasantly insistent upon a maintenance of the -pre-war standards of service. - -Americans were once wont to jest about the dependence of France and -Switzerland upon the tourist trade. To-day we see American cities -competing, as part of their public relations programs, for conventions, -fairs and conferences. The _New York Times_ printed some time ago -an address by the governor of Nebraska, in which he told a group of -advertising men that publicity had made Nebraska prosper. - -The _New York Herald_ carried an editorial recently, entitled, “It -pays a state to advertise,” centering about the campaign of the state -of Vermont to present itself favorably to public attention. According -to the editorial, the state publishes a magazine, _The Vermonter_, -an attractive publication filled with interesting illustrations and -well-written text. It is devoted exclusively to revealing in detail the -industrial and agricultural resources of the state and to presenting -Vermont’s strikingly beautiful scenic attractions for the summer -visitor. Similar instances of elaborate efforts, taking the form of -action or the printed word, either to obtain public attention or to -obtain a favorable attitude from the public for individual industries -and groups of industries, will come readily to the reader’s mind. - -Without attempting to take too seriously an amusing story printed -in a recent issue of a New York newspaper, leaders in movements -and industries of modern life will be inclined to agree with the -protagonist of publicity spoken of. According to the story, a man set -out to prove to another that it was not so much what a man did as -the way it was heralded which insures his place in history. He cited -Barbara Frietchie, Evangeline, John Smith and a half dozen others as -instances to prove that they are remembered not for what they did, but -because they had excellent counsel on their public relations. - -“‘Very good,’ agreed the friend. ‘But show me a case where a person who -has really done a big thing has been overlooked.’ - -“‘You know Paul Revere, of course,’ he said. ‘But tell me the names of -the two other fellows who rode that night to rouse the countryside with -the news that the British were coming.’ - -“‘Never heard of them,’ was the answer. - -“‘There were three waiting to see the signal hung in the tower of the -Old North Church,’ he said. ‘Every one of them was mounted and spurred, -just as Mr. Longfellow described Paul Revere. They all got the signal. -They all rode and waked the farmers, spreading the warning. Afterward -one of them was an officer in Washington’s army, another became -governor of one of the States. Not one in twenty thousand Americans -ever heard the names of the other two, and there is hardly a person in -America who does not know all about Revere.’ - -“‘Did Revere make history or did Longfellow?’” - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE FUNCTION OF A SPECIAL PLEADER - - -Public opinion has entered life at many points as a decisive factor. -Men and movements whose interests will be affected by the attitude of -the public are taking pains to have themselves represented in the court -of public opinion by the most skillful counselors they can obtain. The -business of the public relations counsel is somewhat like the business -of the attorney--to advise his client and to litigate his causes for -him. - -While the special pleader in law, the lawyer for the defense, has -always been accorded a formal hearing by judge and jury, this has not -been the case before the court of public opinion. Here mob psychology, -the intolerance of human society for a dissenting point of view, have -made it difficult and often dangerous for a man to plead for a new or -unpopular cause. - -_The Fourth Estate_, a newspaper for the makers of newspapers, says: -“‘Counsel on public relations’ and ‘director of public relations’ are -two terms that are being encountered more often every day. There is a -familiar tinge to them, in a way, but in justice to the men who bear -these titles and to the concerns which employ them, it should be said -that they are--or can be--dissociated from the old idea of ‘publicity -man.’ The very fact that many of the largest corporations in the -country are recognizing the need of maintaining right relationships -with the public is alone important enough to assure a fair and even -favorable hearing for their public relations departments. - -“Whether a man is really entitled to the appellation ‘counsel on public -relations’ or whether he should merely be called ‘publicity man’ rests -entirely with the individual and the firm that employs him. As we see -it, a man who is really counsel or director of public relations has one -of the most important jobs on the roster of any concern; but a man who -merely represents the old idea of getting something for nothing from -publishers is about _passé_.... - -“So there is made plain the difference between two terms, the old and -the new, both of which have occasioned much natural curiosity among -newspaper men. When Napoleon said, ‘Circumstance? I make circumstance,’ -he expressed very nearly the spirit of the public relations counsel’s -work. So long as this new professional branch live up to the -possibilities that their title suggests, they are bound to accomplish -general constructive good. Maybe they, at last, will make us forget -that ingratiating though insidious individual, the publicity man.” - -As indicative perhaps of the growing importance of the profession, an -article by Mary Swain Routzahn, in charge of the Department of Surveys -and Exhibits of the Russell Sage Foundation, on “Woman’s Chance as -Publicity Specialist” published in the _New York Globe_ of August 2nd, -1921, discusses the profession as one of recent development, but of -such importance as to deserve the serious consideration of women who -are interested in making a professional career for themselves. - -The public relations counsel is first of all a student. His field -of study is the public mind. His text books for this study are the -facts of life; the articles printed in newspapers and magazines, the -advertisements that are inserted in publications, the billboards that -line the streets, the railroads and the highways, the speeches that are -delivered in legislative chambers, the sermons issuing from pulpits, -anecdotes related in smoking rooms, the gossip of Wall Street, the -patter of the theater and the conversation of other men who, like him, -are interpreters and must listen for the clear or obscure enunciations -of the public. - -He brings the talent of his intuitive understanding to the aid of his -practical and psychological tests and surveys. But he is not only a -student. He is a practitioner with a wide range of instruments and a -definite technique for their use. - -First of all, there are the circumstances and events he helps to -create. After that there are the instruments by which he broadcasts -facts and ideas to the public; advertising, motion pictures, circular -letters, booklets, handbills, speeches, meetings, parades, news -articles, magazine articles and whatever other mediums there are -through which public attention is reached and influenced. - -Now sensitiveness to the state of mind of the public is a difficult -thing to achieve or maintain. Any man can tell you with more or less -accuracy and clearness his own reactions on any particular issue. But -few men have the time or the interest or the training to develop a -sense of what other persons think or feel about the same issue. In his -own profession the skilled practitioner is sensitive and understanding. -The lawyer can tell what argument will appeal to court or jury. The -salesman can tell what points to stress to his prospective buyers. The -politician can tell what to emphasize to his audience, but the ability -to estimate group reactions on a large scale over a wide geographic -and psychological area is a specialized ability which must be developed -with the same painstaking self-criticism and with the same dependence -on experience that are required for the development of the clinical -sense in the doctor or surgeon. - -Of course, the public relations counsel employs all those practical -means of gauging the public mind which modern advertising has developed -and uses. He employs the research campaign, the symposium, the survey -of a particular group or of a particular state of mind as a further -aid, and confirmation or modification of his own appraisals and -judgments. - -Charles J. Rosebault, the author of an article in the _New York Times_ -recently, headed “Men Who Wield the Spotlight,” remarks that the -competent public relations counsel has generally had some newspaper -training and that the value of this training “is a keen sense of the -likes and dislikes of what we call the public--that is, the average -of men and women. The needle of the compass is no more sensitive to -direction, nor the mercury in the thermometer to variations of heat and -cold than is this expert to the influence of publicity upon the mind -and emotions of the man in the street.” - -It is not surprising that the growing interest of the public in men -and movements should have led to the spontaneous creation of the new -profession. - -We have presented here, in very broad outline, a picture of the -fundamental work of the public relations counsel and of the fundamental -conditions which have produced him. On the one hand, a complex -environment of which only small, disconnected portions are available -to different persons; on the other hand, the great and increasing -importance either of making one’s case accessible to the public mind or -of determining whether that case will impinge favorably or unfavorably -upon the public mind--these two conditions, taken together, have -resulted inevitably in the public relations counsel. Mr. Lippmann finds -in these facts the underlying reason for the existence of what he calls -the “press agent.” “The enormous discretion,” he says, “as to what -facts and what impressions shall be reported is steadily convincing -every organized group of people that, whether it wishes to secure -publicity or to avoid it, the exercise of discretion cannot be left to -the reporter. It is safer to hire a press agent who stands between the -group and the newspapers.”[3] - -It is clear that the popular impression of the scope and functions -of the counsel on public relations must be radically revised if any -accurate picture of the profession is to be looked for. The public -relations counsel is the lineal descendant, to be sure, of the -circus advance-man and of the semi-journalist promoter of small-part -actresses. The economic conditions which have produced him, however, -and made his profession the important one it is to-day, have in -themselves materially changed the character of his work. - -His primary function now is not to bring his clients by chance to the -public’s attention, nor to extricate them from difficulties into which -they have already drifted, but to advise his clients how positive -results can be accomplished in the field of public relations and to -keep them from drifting inadvertently into unfortunate or harmful -situations. The public relations counsel will find that the conditions -under which his client operates, be it a government, a manufacturer of -food products or a railroad system, are constantly changing and that he -must advise modifications in policy in accordance with such changes in -the public point of view. As such, the public relations counsel must be -alive to the events of the day--not only the events that are printed -but the events which are forming hour by hour, as reported in the words -that are spoken on the street, in the smoking cars, in the school room, -or expressed in any of the other forms of thought communication that -make up public opinion. - -So long as the press remains the greatest single medium for reaching -the public mind, the work of the public relations counsel will -necessarily have close contacts with the work of the journalist. He -transmits his ideas, however, through all those mediums which help to -build public opinion--the radio, the lecture platform, advertising, the -stage, the motion picture, the mails. On the other hand, he is becoming -to-day as much of an adviser on actions as he is the communicator of -these actions to the public. - -The public relations consultant is ideally a constructive force in the -community. The results of his work are often accelerated interest in -matters of value and importance to the social, economic or political -life of the community. - -The public relations counsel is the pleader to the public of a point -of view. He acts in this capacity as a consultant both in interpreting -the public to his client and in helping to interpret his client to the -public. He helps to mould the action of his client as well as to mould -public opinion. - -His profession is in a state of evolution. His future must depend as -much upon the growing realization by the public of the responsibility -to the public of individuals, institutions and organizations as upon -the public relations counsel’s own realization of the importance of his -work. - - - - -PART II - -THE GROUP AND HERD - - - - -CHAPTER I - -WHAT CONSTITUTES PUBLIC OPINION? - - -The character and origins of public opinion, the factors that make -up the individual mind and the group mind must be understood if the -profession of public relations counsel is to be intelligently practiced -and its functions and possibilities accurately estimated. Society must -understand the fundamental character of the work he is doing, if for no -other reason than its own welfare. - -The public relations counsel works with that vague, little-understood, -indefinite material called public opinion. - -Public opinion is a term describing an ill-defined, mercurial -and changeable group of individual judgments. Public opinion is -the aggregate result of individual opinions--now uniform, now -conflicting--of the men and women who make up society or any group of -society. In order to understand public opinion, one must go back to the -individual who makes up the group. - -The mental equipment of the average individual consists of a mass of -judgments on most of the subjects which touch his daily physical or -mental life. These judgments are the tools of his daily being and -yet they are his judgments, not on a basis of research and logical -deduction, but for the most part dogmatic expressions accepted on the -authority of his parents, his teachers, his church, and of his social, -his economic and other leaders. - -The public relations counsel must understand the social implications -of an individual’s thoughts and actions. Is it, for example, purely an -accident that a man belongs to one church rather than another or to any -church at all? Is it an accident that makes Boston women prefer brown -eggs and New York women white eggs? What are the factors that work in -favor of conversion of a man from one political party to another or -from one type of food to another? - -Why do certain communities resist the prohibition law--why do others -abide by it? Why is it difficult to start a new party movement--or to -fight cancer? Why is it difficult to fight for sex education? Why does -the free trader denounce protectionism, and vice versa? - -If we had to form our own judgments on every matter, we should all have -to find out many things for ourselves which we now take for granted. We -should not cook our food or live in houses--in fact, we should revert -to primitive living. - -The public relations counsel must deal with the fact that persons who -have little knowledge of a subject almost invariably form definite and -positive judgments upon that subject. - -“If we examine the mental furniture of the average man,” says William -Trotter, the author of a comprehensive study of the social psychology -of the individual,[4] “we shall find it made up of a vast number of -judgments of a very precise kind upon subjects of very great variety, -complexity, and difficulty. He will have fairly settled views upon the -origin and nature of the universe, and upon what he will probably call -its meaning; he will have conclusions as to what is to happen to him at -death and after, as to what is and what should be the basis of conduct. -He will know how the country should be governed, and why it is going -to the dogs, why this piece of legislation is good and that bad. He -will have strong views upon military and naval strategy, the principles -of taxation, the use of alcohol and vaccination, the treatment of -influenza, the prevention of hydrophobia, upon municipal trading, the -teaching of Greek, upon what is permissible in art, satisfactory in -literature, and hopeful in science. - -“The bulk of such opinions must necessarily be without rational -basis, since many of them are concerned with problems admitted by the -expert to be still unsolved, while as to the rest it is clear that the -training and experience of no average man can qualify him to have any -opinion upon them at all. The rational method adequately used would -have told him that on the great majority of these questions there could -be for him but one attitude--that of suspended judgment.” - -The reader will recall from his own experience an almost infinite -number of instances in which the amateur has been fully prepared to -deliver expert advice and to give final judgment in matters upon which -his ignorance is patent to every one except himself. - -In the Middle Ages, society was convinced that there were witches. -People were so positive that they burned people whom they suspected -of witchcraft. To-day there is an equal number of people who believe -just as firmly, one way or the other, about spiritualism and spirits. -They do not burn mediums. But people who have made no research of the -subject pass strong denunciatory judgments. Others, no better informed, -consider mediums divinely inspired. Not so long ago every intelligent -man knew that the world was flat. To-day the average man has a belief -just as firm and unknowing in the mysterious force which he has heard -called atomic energy. - -It is axiomatic that men who know little are often intolerant of a -point of view that is contrary to their own. The bitterness that has -been brought about by arguments on public questions is proverbial. -Lovers have been parted by bitter quarrels on theories of pacificism -or militarism; and when an argument upon an abstract question engages -opponents they often desert the main line of argument in order to abuse -each other. - -How often this is true can be seen from the congressional records of -controversies in which the personal attack supersedes logic. In a -recent fight against the proposed tariff measures, a protagonist of -protection published long vindictive statements, in which he tried to -confound the character and the disinterestedness of his opponents. -Logically his discussion should have been based only upon the sound -economic, social and political value of the bill as presented. - -A hundred leading American bankers, business men, professional men and -economists united in public disapproval of this plan. They stated their -opinion that the “American” Valuation Plan, as it was called, would -endanger the prosperity of the country, that it would be inimical to -our foreign relations and that it would injure the welfare of every -country with whom our commercial and industrial ties were at all -close. This group was a broadly representative group of men and women, -yet the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee accused all these -people of acting upon motives of personal gain and lack of patriotism. -Prejudice superseded logic. - -Intolerance is almost inevitably accompanied by a natural and true -inability to comprehend or make allowance for opposite points of view. -The skilled scientist who may be receptive to any promising suggestion -in his own field may outside of his own field be found quite unwilling -to make any attempt at understanding a point of view contrary to his -own. In politics, for example, his understanding of the problem may -be fragmentary, yet he will enter excitedly into discussions on bonus -and ship subsidy, of which he has made no study. We find here with -significant uniformity what one psychologist has called “logic-proof -compartments.” - -The logic-proof compartment has always been with us. Scientists have -lost their lives through refusing to see flaws in their theories. -Intelligent mothers give food to their babies that they would -manifestly forbid other mothers to give their children. Especially -significant is the tendency of races to maintain religious beliefs -and customs long after these have lost their meaning. Dietary laws, -hygienic laws, even laws based upon geographical conditions that have -been changed for more than a thousand years are still maintained in the -logic-proof compartment of dogmatic adherence. There is a story that -certain missionaries give money to heathen at the time of conversion -and that the heathen, having got their money, bathe away their -conversion in sacred streams. - -The characteristic of the human mind to adhere to its beliefs is -excellently summarized in the volume by Mr. Trotter to which reference -has been made before. “It is clear,” says Mr. Trotter,[5] “at the -outset that these beliefs are invariably regarded as rational and -defended as such, while the position of one who holds contrary views is -held to be obviously unreasonable. - -“The religious man accuses the atheist of being shallow and irrational, -and is met by a similar reply. To the Conservative the amazing thing -about the Liberal is his incapacity to see reason and accept the -only possible solution of public problems. Examination reveals the -fact that the differences are not due to the commission of the mere -mechanical fallacies of logic, since these are easily avoided, even by -the politician, and since there is no reason to believe that one party -in such controversies is less logical than the other. The difference -is due rather to the fundamental assumptions of the antagonists being -hostile, and these assumptions are derived from herd-suggestions; -to the Liberal certain basal conceptions have acquired the quality -of instinctive truth, have become _a priori_ syntheses, because of -the accumulated suggestions to which he has been exposed; and a -similar explanation applies to the atheist, the Christian, and the -Conservative. Each, it is important to remember, finds in consequence -the rationality of his position flawless and is quite incapable of -detecting in it the fallacies which are obvious to his opponent, to -whom that particular series of assumptions has not been rendered -acceptable by herd suggestion.” - -Thus the public relations counsel has to consider the _a priori_ -judgment of any public he deals with before counseling any step that -would modify those things in which the public has an established belief. - -It is seldom effective to call names or to attempt to discredit the -beliefs themselves. The counsel on public relations, after examination -of the sources of established beliefs, must either discredit the old -authorities or create new authorities by making articulate a mass -opinion against the old belief or in favor of the new. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -IS PUBLIC OPINION STUBBORN OR MALLEABLE? - - -There is a divergence of opinion as to whether the public mind is -malleable or stubborn--whether it is a passive or an active element. -On the one hand is the profound belief that “you can’t change human -nature.” On the other hand is the equally firm assurance that certain -well-defined institutions modify and alter public opinion. - -There is a uniformity of opinion in this country upon many issues. -When this uniformity accords with our own beliefs we call it an -expression of the public conscience. When, however, it runs contrary -to our beliefs we call it the regimentation of the public mind and are -inclined to ascribe it to insidious propaganda. - -Uniformity is, in fact, largely natural and only partly artificial. -Public opinion may be as much the producer of “insidious propaganda” -as its product. Naturally enough, where broad ideas are involved, -criticisms of the state of the public’s mind and of its origin come -most frequently from groups that are out of sympathy with the accepted -point of view. They find the public unreceptive to their point of -view, and justly or unjustly they attribute this to the influence of -antagonistic interests upon the public mind. - -These groups see the press, the lecture platform, the schools, the -advertisements, the churches, the radio, the motion picture screen, -the magazines daily reaching millions. They see that the preponderant -point of view in most, if not all, these institutions conforms to the -preponderant state of mind of the public. - -They argue from the one to the other and reach their conclusions -without much difficulty. They do not stop to think that agreement in -point of view between the public and these institutions may often be -the result of the control exercised by the public mind over these -institutions. - -Many outside forces, however, do go to influence public opinion. The -most obvious of these forces are parental influence, the school room, -the press, motion pictures, advertising, magazines, lectures, the -church, the radio. - -To answer the question as to the stubbornness or malleability of the -public, let us analyze the press in its relation to public opinion, -since the press stands preëminent among the various institutions which -are commonly designated as leaders or moulders of the public mind. By -the press, in this instance, I mean the daily press. Americans are -a newspaper-reading public. They have become accustomed to look to -their morning and evening papers for the news of the world and for -the opinions of their leaders. And while the individual newspaper -reader does not give a very considerable portion of his day to this -occupation, many persons find time to read more than one newspaper -every day. - -It is not surprising that the man who is outside the current of -prevailing public opinion should regard the daily press as a coercive -force. - -Discussions of the public’s reaction to the press are two-sided, just -as are discussions of the influence of the pulpit or other forces. -Some authorities hold that the public mind is stubborn in regard to -the press and that the press has little influence upon it. There are -graphic instances of the stubbornness of the public point of view. -A most interesting example is the reëlection of Mayor Hylan of New -York by an overwhelming majority in the face of the opposition of all -but two of the metropolitan dailies. It is also noteworthy that in -1909, Gaynor was elected Mayor of New York with every paper except -one opposing his candidacy. Likewise, Mayor Mitchel of New York was -defeated for reëlection in 1917, although all the New York papers -except two Hearst papers and the _New York Call_ supported him. In -Boston, in a recent election, a man was elected as mayor who had -been convicted of a penal offense, and elected in the face of the -practically united opposition of all the newspapers of that city. -How would such authors as Everett Dean Martin, Walter Lippmann and -Upton Sinclair explain these incidents? How, on the theory of the -regimentation of the public mind by the daily press, can such thinkers -explain the sharpness with which the public sometimes rejects the -advocacies of a united press? These instances are not frequent; but -they show that other influences beside the press enter into the making -of a public opinion and that these forces must never be disregarded in -the estimate of the quality and stability of a prevalent public opinion. - -Francis E. Leupp, writing in the _Atlantic Monthly_ for February, -1910, on “The Waning Power of the Press,” remarks that Mayor Gaynor’s -comments shortly after his election in 1909 “led up to the conclusion -that in our common sense generation nobody cares what the newspapers -say.” Mr. Leupp continues: “Unflattering as such a verdict may be, -probably the majority of a community if polled as a jury would concur -in it. The airy dismissal of some proposition as ‘mere newspaper talk’ -is heard at every social gathering until one who is brought up to -regard the press as a mighty factor in modern civilization is tempted -to wonder whether it has actually lost the power it used to wield among -us.” - -And H. L. Mencken, writing in the same magazine for March, 1914, -declares that “one of the principal marks of an educated man, indeed, -is the fact that he does _not_ take his opinions from newspapers--not, -at any rate, from the militant, crusading newspapers. On the contrary, -his attitude toward them is almost always one of frank cynicism, with -indifference as its mildest form and contempt as its commonest. He -knows that they are constantly falling into false reasoning about the -things within his personal knowledge,--that is, within the narrow -circle of his special education,--and so he assumes that they make the -same, or even worse, errors about other things, whether intellectual or -moral. This assumption, it may be said at once, is quite justified by -the facts.” - -The second point of view holds that the daily press and the other -leading forces merely accept, reflect and intensify established public -opinion and are, therefore, responsible for the uniformity of public -reaction. A vivid statement of the point of view of the man who -typifies this group is found in Everett Dean Martin’s volume on “The -Behavior of Crowds.” He says:[6] “The modern man has in the printing -press a wonderfully effective means for perpetuating crowd-movements -and keeping great masses of people constantly under the sway of certain -crowd-ideas. Every crowd-group has its magazines, press agents, and -special ‘literature’ with which it continually harangues its members -and possible converts. Many books, and especially certain works of -fiction of the ‘best seller’ type, are clearly reading mob phenomena.” - -There is a third group which perhaps comes nearer the truth, -which holds that the press, just as other mediums of education or -dissemination, brings about a very definite change in public opinion. -A most graphic illustration of what such mediums can do to change -opinions upon fundamental and important matters is the woman suffrage -question and its victory over established points of view. The press, -the pulpit, the lecture platform, the motion pictures and the other -mediums for reaching the public brought about a complete popular -conversion. Other examples of the change that may be brought about in -public opinion in this way, by such institutions of authority, is the -present attitude towards birth control and towards health education. - -Naturally the press, like other institutions which present facts or -opinions, is restricted, often unconsciously, sometimes consciously, by -various controlling conditions. Certain people talk of the censorship -enacted by the prejudices and predispositions of the public itself. -Some, such as Upton Sinclair, ascribe to the advertisers a conscious -and powerful control of publications. Others, like Walter Lippmann, -find that an effective barrier between the public and the event exists -in the powerful influence which, he says, is exerted in certain cases -on the press by the so-called quality public which the newspapers’ -advertisers wish to reach and among whom the newspapers must circulate -if the advertising is to be successful. Mr. Lippmann observes that -although such a restriction may exist, much of what may be attributed -to censorship in the newspaper, often is actually inadequate -presentation of the events it seeks to describe. - -On this point he says:[7] “It follows that in the reporting of strikes, -the easiest way is to let the news be uncovered by the overt act, and -to describe the event as the story of interference with the reader’s -life. This is where his attention is first aroused and his interest -most easily enlisted. A great deal, I think myself, of the crucial -part of what looks to the worker and the reformer as deliberate -misrepresentation on the part of newspapers, is the direct outcome -of a practical difficulty in uncovering the news, and the emotional -difficulty of making distinct facts interesting unless, as Emerson -says, we can ‘perceive’ (them) and can ‘set about translating (them) at -once into parallel facts.’” - -In view then of the possibility of a malleable public opinion the -counsel on public relations, desiring to obtain a hearing for any given -cause, simply utilizes existent channels to obtain expression for the -point of view he represents. How this is done will be considered later. - -Because of the importance of channels of thought communication, it -is vital for the public relations counsel to study carefully the -relationship between public opinion and the organs that maintain it or -that influence it to change. We shall look into this interaction and -its effect in the next chapter. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE INTERACTION OF PUBLIC OPINION WITH THE FORCES THAT HELP TO MAKE IT - - -The public and the press, or for that matter, the public and any force -that modifies public opinion, interact. Action and interaction are -continually going on between the forces projected out to the public -and the public itself. The public relations counsel must understand -this fact in its broadest and most detailed implications. He must -understand not only what these various forces are, but he must be able -to evaluate their relative powers with fair accuracy. Let us consider -again the case of a newspaper, as representative of other mediums of -communication. - -“We print,” says the _New York Times_, “all the news that’s fit to -print.” Immediately the question arises (as Elmer Davis, the historian -of the _Times_ tells us that it did when the motto was first adopted) -what news _is_ fit to print? By what standard is the editorial decision -reached which includes one kind of news and excludes another kind? The -_Times_ itself has not been, in its long and conspicuously successful -career, entirely free from difficulties on this point. - -Thus in “The History of The _New York Times_,” Mr. Davis feels the -need for justifying the extent to which that paper featured Theodore -Tilton’s action against the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher for alienation -of Mrs. Tilton’s affections and his conduct with her. Mr. Davis says -(pages 124-125): “No doubt a good many readers of the _Times_ thought -that the paper was giving an undue amount of space to this chronicle -of sin and suffering. Those complaints come in often enough even in -these days from readers who appreciate the paper’s general reluctance -to display news of this sort, and wonder why a good general rule -should occasionally be violated. But there was a reason in the Beecher -case, as there has usually been a reason in similar affairs since. -Dr. Beecher was one of the most prominent clergymen in the country; -there was a natural curiosity as to whether he was practicing what -he preached. One of the counsel at the trial declared that ‘all -Christendom was hanging on its outcome.’ Full reporting of its course -was not a mere pandering to vulgar curiosity, but a recognition of the -value of the case as news.” - -The simple fact that such a slogan can exist and be accepted is for -our purpose an important point. Somewhere there must be a standard -to which the editors of the _Times_ can conform, as well as a large -clientele of constant readers to whom that standard is satisfactory. -“Fit” must be defined by the editors of the _Times_ in a way which -meets with the approval of enough persons to enable the paper to -maintain its reading public. As soon, however, as the definition is -attempted, difficulties arise. - -Professor W. G. Bleyer, in an article in his book on journalism, -first stresses the importance of completeness in the news columns of -a paper, then goes on to say that “the only important limitations -to completeness are those imposed by the commonly accepted ideas of -decency embodied in the words, ‘All the news that’s fit to print’ and -by the rights of privacy. Carefully edited newspapers discriminate -between what the public is entitled to know and what an individual has -a right to keep private.” - -On the other hand, when Professor Bleyer attempts to define what -news is fit to print and what the public is entitled to know, he -discusses generalizations capable of wide and frequently inconsistent -interpretation. “News,” says he, “is anything timely which is -significant to newspaper readers in their relations to the community, -the state and the nation.” - -Who is to determine what is significant and what is not? Who is -to decide which of the individual’s relations to the community -are safeguarded by his right of privacy and which are not? Such a -definition tells us nothing more definite than does the slogan which it -attempts to define. We must look further for a standard by which these -definitions are applied. There must be a consensus of public opinion on -which the newspaper falls back for its standards. - -The truth is that while it appears to be forming the public opinion on -fundamental matters, the press is often conforming to it. - -It is the office of the public relations counsel to determine the -interaction between the public, and the press and the other mediums -affecting public opinion. It is as important to conform to the -standards of the organ which projects ideas as it is to present to -this organ such ideas as will conform to the fundamental understanding -and appreciation of the public to which they are ultimately to appeal. -There is as much truth in the proposition that the public leads -institutions as in the contrary proposition that the institutions lead -the public. - -As an illustration of the manner in which newspapers are inclined to -accept the judgments of their readers in presenting material to them, -we have this anecdote which Rollo Ogden tells in the _Atlantic Monthly_ -for July, 1906, about a letter which Wendell Phillips wished to have -published in a Boston paper. - -“The editor read it over, and said, ‘Mr. Phillips, that is a very good -and interesting letter, and I shall be glad to publish it; but I wish -you would consent to strike out the last paragraph.’ - -“‘Why,’ said Phillips, ‘that paragraph is the precise thing for which I -wrote the whole letter. Without that it would be pointless.’ - -“‘Oh, I see that,’ replied the editor; ‘and what you say is perfectly -true! I fully agree with it all myself. Yet it is one of those things -which it will not do to say publicly. However, if you insist upon it, I -will publish it as it stands.’ - -“It was published the next morning, and along with it a short editorial -reference to it, saying that a letter from Mr. Phillips would be found -in another column, and that it was extraordinary that so keen a mind -as his should have fallen into the palpable absurdity contained in the -last paragraph.” - -Recognition of this fact comes from a number of different sources. -H. L. Mencken recognizes that the public runs the press as much as the -press runs the public. - -“The primary aim of all of them,” says Mr. Mencken,[8] “not less -when they play the secular Iokanaan than when they play the mere -newsmonger, was to please the crowd, and to give a good show; and the -way they set about giving that good show was by first selecting a -deserving victim, and then putting him magnificently to the torture. - -“This was their method when they were performing for their own profit -only, when their one motive was to make the public read their paper; -but it was still their motive when they were battling bravely and -unselfishly for the public good, and so discharging the highest duty of -their profession.” - -There are interesting, if somewhat obscure, examples of the -complementary working of various forces. In the field of the motion -pictures, for example, the producers, the actors and the press, in -their support, have continually waged a battle against censorship. -Undoubtedly censorship of the motion pictures is in its practical -workings an economic and artistic handicap. Censorship, however, will -continue in spite of the producers as long as there is a willingness on -the part of the public to accept this censorship. The public, on the -whole, has refused to join the fight against censorship, because there -is a more or less articulate belief that children, if not women, should -be protected from seeing shocking sights, such as murders visibly -enacted, the taking of drugs, immoralities and other acts which might -offend or suggest harmful imitation. - -“Damaged Goods,” before its presentation to America in 1913, was -analyzed by the public relations counsel, who helped to produce the -play. He recognized that unless that part of the public sentiment which -believed in education and truth could be lifted from that part of -public opinion which condemned the mentioning of sex matters, “Damaged -Goods” would fail. The producers, therefore, did not try to educate the -public by presenting this play as such, but allowed group leaders and -groups interested in education to come to the support of Brieux’s drama -and, in a sense, to sponsor the production. - -Proof that the public and the institutions that make public opinion -interact is shown in instances in which books were stifled because of -popular disapproval at one time and then brought forward by popular -demand at a later time when public opinion had altered. Religious and -very early scientific works are among such books. - -A more recent instance is the announcement made by _Judge_, a weekly -magazine, that it would support the fight for light wine and beer. -_Judge_ took this stand because it believed in the principle of -personal freedom and also because it deemed that public sentiment -was in favor of light wine and beer as a substitute for absolute -prohibition. _Judge_ believed its stand would please its readers. - -Presumably writing of newspaper morality, Mr. Mencken, in his article -just quoted, finds at the end of it that he has “written of popular -morality very copiously, and of newspaper morality very little. - -“But,” says Mr. Mencken, “as I have said before, the one is the other. -The newspaper must adapt its pleading to its clients’ moral limitation -just as the trial lawyer also must adapt _his_ pleading to the jury’s -limitations. Neither may like the job, but both must face it to gain -the larger end.” - -Writing on the other hand from the point of view of the man who feels -that the public taste requires no justification, Ralph Pulitzer -nevertheless agrees with Mr. Mencken that the opinion of the press -is set by the public; and he justifies “muckraking”[9] by finding it -neither “extraordinary nor culpable that people and press should be -more interested in the polemical than in the platitudinous; in blame -than in painting the lily; in attack than in sending laudatory coals to -Newcastle.” - -Even Mr. Leupp[10] concludes that “whatever we may say of the modern -press on its less commendable side, we are bound to admit that -newspapers, like governments, fairly reflect the people they serve. -Charles Dudley Warner once went so far as to say that no matter how -objectionable the character of a paper may be, it is always a trifle -better than the patrons on whom it relies for its support.” - -Similarly, from an unusually wide experience on a paper as highly -considered, perhaps, as any in America, Rollo Ogden claims this give -and take between the public and the press is vital to a just conception -of American journalism. - -“The editor does not nonchalantly project his thoughts into the void. -He listens for the echo of his words. His relation to his supporters is -not unlike Gladstone’s definition of the intimate connection between -the orator and his audience. As the speaker gets from his hearers in -mist what he gives back in shower, so the newspaper receives from the -public as well as gives to it. Too often it gets as dust what it gives -back as mud; but that does not alter the relation. Action and reaction -are all the while going on between the press and its patrons. Hence it -follows that the responsibility for the more crying evils of journalism -must be divided.”[11] - -The same interaction goes on in connection with all the other forces -that mould public opinion. The preacher upholds the ideals of society. -He leads his flock whither they indicate a willingness to be led. Ibsen -creates a revolution when society is ripe for it. The public responds -to finer music and better motion pictures and demands improvements. -“Give the people what they want” is only half sound. What they want -and what they get are fused by some mysterious alchemy. The press, the -lecturer, the screen and the public lead and are led by each other. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE POWER OF INTERACTING FORCES THAT GO TO MAKE UP PUBLIC OPINION - - -The influence of any force which attempts to modify public opinion -depends upon the success with which it is able to enlist established -points of view. A middle ground exists between the hypothesis that -the public is stubborn and the hypothesis that it is malleable. To a -large degree the press, the schools, the churches, motion pictures, -advertising, the lecture platform and radio all conform to the demands -of the public. But to an equally large degree the public responds to -the influence of these very same mediums of communication. - -Some analysts believe that the public has no opinions except those -which various institutions provide ready made for it. From Mr. Mencken -and others it would almost seem to follow that newspapers and other -mediums have no standards except those which the public provides, and -that therefore they are substantially without influence upon the public -mind. The truth of the matter, as I have pointed out, lies somewhere -between these two extreme positions. - -In other words, the public relations counsel who thinks clearly on -the problem of public opinion and public relations will credit the -two factors of public opinion respectively with their influence and -effectiveness in mutual interaction. - -Ray Stannard Baker says[12] that “while there was a gesture of -unconcern, of don’t care what they say, on the part of the leaders (of -the Versailles conference), no aspect of the conference in reality -worried them more than the news, opinions, guesses that went out by -scores of thousands of words every night, and the reactions which -came back so promptly from them. The problem of publicity consumed -an astonishing amount of time, anxiety and discussion among the -leaders of the conference. It influenced the entire procedure, it was -partly instrumental in driving the four heads of States finally into -small secret conferences. The full achievement of publicity on one -occasion--Wilson’s Italian note--nearly broke up the conference and -overturned a government. The bare threat of it, upon other occasions, -changed the course of the discussion. Nothing concerned the conference -more than what democracy was going to do with diplomacy.” - -For like causes we find great industries--motion pictures being one and -organized baseball another--appointing as directors of their activities -men prominent in public life, doing this to assure the public of -the honest and social-minded conduct of their members. The Franklin -Roosevelts are in this class, the Will Hayses and the Landises. - -A striking example of this interaction is illustrated in what -occurred at the Hague Conference a few years ago. The effect of the -Hague Conference’s conduct upon the public was such that officials -were forced to open the Conference doors to the representatives of -newspapers. On June 16th, 1922, a note came from The Hague by the -Associated Press that Foreign Minister Van Karnebeek of Holland -capitulated to the world’s desire to be informed of what was going -on by admitting correspondents. Early announcement that “the press -cannot be admitted” was, according to the report, followed by anxious -emissaries begging the journalists to have patience. Editorials printed -in Holland pointed out that the best way to insure public coöperation -was to take the public into its confidence. Minister van Karnebeek, who -had been at Washington, was thoroughly awake to the invaluable service -the press of the world rendered there. One editorial here pointed out -that public statements “were used by the diplomats themselves as -a happy means of testing popular opinion upon the various projects -offered in council. How many ‘trial balloons’ were sent up in this -fashion, nobody can recall. Nevertheless each delegation maintained -clipping bureaus, which were brought up to date every morning and which -gave the delegates accurate information as to the state of mind at -home. Thus it came about that world opinion was ready and anxious to -receive the finished work of the conference and that it was prompt to -bring individual recalcitrant groups into line.” - -Let me quote from the _New York Evening Post_ of July, 1922, as to the -important interaction of these forces: “The importance of the press -in guiding public opinion and the coöperation between the members of -the press and the men who express public opinion in action, which has -grown up since the Peace Conference at Paris, were stressed by Lionel -Curtis, who arrived on the _Adriatic_ yesterday to attend the Institute -of Politics, which opens on July 27 at Williamstown. ‘Perhaps for the -first time in history,’ he said, ‘the men whose business it is to make -public opinion were collected for some months under the same roof with -the officials whose task in life is the actual conduct of foreign -affairs. In the long run, foreign policy is determined by public -opinion. It was impossible in Paris not to be impressed by the immense -advantage of bringing into close contact the writers who, through the -press, are making public opinion and the men who have to express their -opinion in actual policy.’” - -Harvard University, likewise, appreciating the power of public opinion -over its own activities, has recently appointed a counsel on public -relations to make its aims clear to the public. - -The institutions which make public opinion conform to the demands of -the public. The public responds to an equally large degree to these -institutions. Such fights as that made by _Collier’s Weekly_ for pure -food control show this. - -The Safety First movement, by its use of every form of appeal, from -poster to circular, from lecture to law enforcement, from motion -pictures to “safety weeks,” is bringing about a gradual change in the -attitude of a safety-deserving public towards the taking of unnecessary -risks. - -The Rockefeller Foundation, confronted with the serious problem -of the hookworm in the South and in other localities, has brought -about a change in the habits of large sections of rural populations -by analysis, investigation, applied medical principles, and public -education. - -The moulder of public opinion must enlist the established point of -view. This is true of the press as well as of other forces. Mr. Mencken -mixes cynicism and truth when he declares that the chief difficulty -confronting a newspaper which tries to carry out independent and -thoughtful policies “does not lie in the direction of the board of -directors, but in the direction of the public which buys the paper.”[13] - -The _New York Tribune_, as an example of editorial bravery, points out -in an advertisement published May 23, 1922, that though “news knows no -order in the making” and though “a newspaper must carry the news, both -pleasant and unpleasant,” nevertheless, it is the duty of any newspaper -to realize that there is a possibility of selective action, and that -“in times of stress and bleak despair a newspaper has a hard and fast -duty to perform in keeping up the morale of the community.” - -Indeed, the instances are frequent and accessible to the recollection -of any reader in which newspapers have consciously maintained a point -of view toward which the public is either hostile or cold. - -Occasionally, of course, even the established point of view is -alterable. The two Baltimore Suns do brave their public and have been -braving their public for some time, not entirely without success. -As severe a critic as Oswald Garrison Villard points out that though -modern Baltimore is a difficult city to serve, yet the two _Suns_ have -courageously and consistently stood for the policies of their editors -and have refused to yield to pressure from any source. To the public -relations counsel this is a striking illustration of the give and take -between the public and the institutions which attempt to mould public -opinion. The two interact upon each other, so that it is sometimes -difficult to tell which is one and which is the other. - -The _World_ and the _Evening World_ of New York, pride themselves upon -the following campaigns which are listed in _The World Almanac_ of -1922. They illustrate this interaction. - - * * * * * - -“_Conference on Limitation of Armament Grew from ‘World’s’ Plea_ - -“Bearing in mind in 1921 the injunction of its founder, Joseph -Pulitzer, to fight always for progress and reform, and having led the -campaign for disarmament in advance of any other demand therefor, the -_World_ covered the Washington Conference on Limitation of Armament in -a comprehensive way.... - - * * * * * - -“_Measures Advocated by ‘World’ Made Law_ - -“During the 1921 session of the New York Legislature many measures -advocated by the _World_ were enacted. One of this paper’s chief -achievements was the passage of a resolution broadening the power -of the Lockwood Housing Committee, enabling it to inquire into high -finance as related to the building trades situation. - -“The _World_ was instrumental in obtaining the Anti-Theater Ticket -Speculator Law. It also brought about a change in bills to abolish -the Daylight-Saving Law so that municipalities might enact their -own daylight-saving ordinances. It was successful in its campaign -against the search-and-seizure and other drastic features of the State -Prohibition Enforcement Law. - - * * * * * - -“_The ‘World’ Told Facts About Ku Klux Klan_ - -“The _World_ on September 6 commenced the publication of a series -of articles telling the truth about the Ku Klux Klan. Twenty-six -newspapers, in widely separated sections of the United States, joined -the _World_ in the publication; some had been invited to participate, -others requested the _World_ to let them use the articles. All these -newspapers realized that the only motive back of the _World’s_ -publication was public service. It was their desire to share in this -service, and the _World_ is proud that they asked only assurance of its -traditional accuracy and fairness before they saw their way clear to -coöperation. - -“The _World_ is proud that the completed record shows no evidence -either that it was terrified by threats or was goaded by abuse into -departures from its object of presenting the facts honestly and without -exaggeration. - - * * * * * - -“_Changes in Motor Vehicle Laws_ - -“As a result of a crusade to lessen automobile fatalities in New -York City and State, the _World_ won a victory when changes in the -motor vehicle laws were made. The paper printed exclusive stories -giving the motor and license numbers of cars stolen daily in this -city, and started a campaign against outlaw taxicabs and financially -irresponsible drivers and owners. - - * * * * * - -“_‘Evening World’s’ Achievements_ - -“The _Evening World_ continued its campaign against the coal monopoly -and the high coal prices charged in New York City--a state of affairs -that has been constantly and vigorously exposed in _Evening World_ -columns. After consultation with leading Senators at Washington, -several bills were introduced in Congress to alleviate the conditions.” - -I am letting the _World_ speak for itself merely as an example of -what many splendid newspapers have accomplished as leaders in public -movements. The _New York Evening Post_ is another example, it having -long led popular demand for vocational guidance and control. - -The public relations counsel cannot base his work merely upon the -acceptance of the principle that the public and its authorities -interact. He must go deeper than that and discover why it is that a -public opinion exists independently of church, school, press, lecture -platform and motion picture screen--how far this public opinion affects -these institutions and how far these institutions affect public -opinion. He must discover what the stimuli are to which public opinion -responds most readily. - -Study of the mirrors of the public mind--the press, the motion -pictures, the lecture platform and the others--reveal to him what their -standards are and those of the groups they reach. This is not enough, -however. To his understanding of what he actually can measure he must -add a thorough knowledge of the principles which govern individual and -group action. A fundamental study of group and individual psychology is -required before the public relations counsel can determine how readily -individuals or groups will accept modifications of viewpoints or -policies, which they have already imposed upon their respective mediums. - -No idea or opinion is an isolated factor. It is surrounded and -influenced by precedent, authority, habit and all the other human -motivations. - -For a lucid conception of the functions, power and social utility of -the public relations counsel it is vitally important to have a clear -grasp of the fundamentals with which he must work. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF PUBLIC MOTIVATION IS NECESSARY -TO THE WORK OF THE PUBLIC RELATIONS COUNSEL - - -Before defining the fundamental motivations of society, let me mention -those outward signs on which psychologists base their study of -conditions. - -Psychological habits, or as Mr. Lippmann calls them, “stereotypes,” -are shorthand by which human effort is minimized. They are so clearly -and commonly understood that every one will immediately respond to -the mention of a stereotype within his personal experience. The words -“capitalist” or “boy scout” bring out definite images to the hearer. -These images are more comprehensible than detailed descriptions. Chorus -girl, woman lawyer, politician, detective, financier are clean-cut -concepts and capable of definition. We all have stereotypes which -minimize not only our thinking habits but also the ordinary routine of -life. - -Mr. Lippmann finds that the stereotypes at the center of the code -by which various sections of the public live “largely determine what -group of facts we shall see and in what light we shall see them.” That -is why, he says, “with the best will in the world, the news policy -of a journal tends to support its editorial policy, why a capitalist -sees one set of facts and certain aspects of human nature--literally -sees them; his socialist opponent another set and other aspects, and -why each regards the other as unreasonable or perverse, when the real -difference between them is a difference of perception. That difference -is imposed by the difference between the capitalist and socialist -pattern of stereotypes. ‘There are no classes in America,’ writes an -American editor. ‘The history of all hitherto existing society is the -history of class struggles,’ says the Communist Manifesto. If you have -the editor’s pattern in your mind, you will see vividly the facts -that confirm it, vaguely and ineffectively those that contradict. If -you have the communist pattern, you will not only look for different -things, but you will see with a totally different emphasis what you and -the editor happen to see in common.” - -The stereotype is the basis of a large part of the work of the -public relations counsel. Let us try to inquire where the stereotype -originates--why it is so influential and why from a practical -standpoint it is so tremendously difficult to affect or change -stereotypes or to attempt to substitute one set of stereotypes for -another. - -Mr. Martin attempts to answer questions such as these in his volume on -“The Behavior of Crowds.” By “crowds” Mr. Martin does not mean merely a -physical aggregation of a number of persons. To Mr. Martin the crowd is -rather a state of mind, “the peculiar mental condition which sometimes -occurs when people think and act together, either immediately where the -members of the group are present and in close contact, or remotely, as -when they affect one another in a certain way through the medium of an -organization, a party or sect, the press, etc.” - -Motives of social behavior are based on individual instincts. -Individual instincts, on the other hand, must yield to group needs. -Mr. Martin pictures society as an aggregation of people who have -sacrificed individual freedom in order to remain within the group. This -sacrifice of freedom on the part of individuals in the groups leads its -members to resist all efforts at fundamental changes in the group code. -Because all have made certain sacrifices, reasons are developed why -such sacrifices must be insisted upon at all times. The “logic-proof” -compartment is the result of this unwillingness to accept changes. - -“What has been so painstakingly built up is not to be lightly -destroyed. Each group, therefore, within itself, considers its own -standards ultimate and indisputable, and tends to dismiss all contrary -or different standards as indefensible. - -“Even an honest, critical understanding of the demands of the opposing -crowd is discouraged, possibly because it is rightly felt that the -critical habit of mind is as destructive of one crowd-complex as the -other, and the old crowd prefers to remain intact and die in the last -ditch rather than risk dissolution, even with the promise of averting -a revolution. Hence the Romans were willing to believe that the -Christians worshiped the head of an ass. The medieval Catholics, even -at Leo’s court, failed to grasp the meaning of the outbreak in North -Germany. Thousands saw in the reformation only the alleged fact that -the monk Luther wanted to marry a wife....”[14] - -The main satisfaction, Mr. Martin thinks, which the individual derives -from his group association is the satisfaction of his vanity through -the creation of an enlarged self-importance. - -The Freudian theories upon which Mr. Martin relies very largely for -his argument lead to the conclusion that what Mr. Henry Watterson has -said of the suppression of news applies equally to the suppression of -individual desire. Neither will suppress. With the normal person, -the result of this social suppression is to produce an individual who -conforms with sufficient closeness to the standards of his group to -enable him to remain comfortably within it. - -The tendency, however, of the instincts and desires which are thus -ruled out of conduct is somehow or other, when the conditions are -favorable, to seek some avenue of release and satisfaction. To the -individual most of these avenues of release are closed. He cannot, for -example, indulge his instinct of pugnacity without running foul of -the law. The only release which the individual can have is one which -commands, however briefly, the approval of his fellows. That is why -Mr. Martin calls crowd psychology and crowd activity “the result of -forces hidden in a personal and unconscious psyche of the members of -the crowd, forces which are merely released by social gatherings of -a certain sort.” The crowd enables the individual to express himself -according to his desire and without restraint. - -He says further, “Every crowd ‘boosts for’ itself, gives itself airs, -speaks with oracular finality, regards itself as morally superior, and -will, so far as it has the power, lord it over every one. Notice how -each group and section in society, so far as it permits itself to think -as crowd, claims to be ‘the people.’” - -As an illustration of the boosting principle Mr. Martin points out the -readiness of most groups to enter upon conflict of one kind or another -with opposing groups. “Nothing so easily catches general attention -and grips a crowd as a contest of any kind,” he says. “The crowd -unconsciously identifies its members with one or the other competitor. -Success enables the winning crowd to ‘crow over’ the losers. Such an -action becomes symbolical, and is utilized by the ego to enhance its -feeling of importance. In society this egoism tends to take the form of -the desire for dominance.” According to Mr. Martin, that is why “... -whenever any attempt is being made to secure recruits for a movement -or a point of view the leaders intuitively assume and reiterate the -certainty of ultimate victory.” - -Two points which Mr. Martin makes seem to me most important. In the -first place, Mr. Martin points out with absolute justice that the -crowd-mind is by no means limited to the ignorant. “Any class,” he -says, “may behave and think as a crowd--in fact, it usually does so in -so far as its class interests are concerned.” Neither is the crowd-mind -to be found only when there is a physical agglomeration of people. This -fact is important to an understanding of the problems of the public -relations counsel, because he must bear in mind always that the readers -of advertisements, the recipients of letters, the solitary listener at -a radio speech, the reader of the morning newspapers are mysteriously -part of the crowd-mind. - -When Bergson came to America about a decade ago, men and women flocked -to his classes, both the French and the English sessions. It was -obvious to the observer that numbers of disciples who conscientiously -attended the full course of lectures understood almost nothing of what -was being said. Their behavior was an instance of the crowd-mind. - -Everybody read “Main Street.” Each reader in his own study tried to -react as a crowd-mind. They felt as they thought they ought to. - -Initiation scandals, where the crowd-mind has created a brutality not -possible to individuals, take place not only in brotherhoods among what -Mr. Martin calls “the lower classes,” but also among well-bred college -youths and the fraternal orders of successful business and professional -men. A more specific instance is the football game, with its -manifestations of the crowd-mind among a selected group of individuals. -The Ku Klux Klan has numbered among its violent supporters some of the -“best” families of the affected localities. - -The crowd is a state of mind which permeates society and its -individuals at almost all times. What becomes articulate in times of -stress under great excitement is present in the mind of the individual -at most times and explains in part why popular opinion is so positive -and so intolerant of contrary points of view. The college professor in -his study on a peaceful summer day is just as likely to be reacting as -a unit of a crowd-mind, as any member of a lynching party in Texas or -Georgia. - -Mr. Trotter in his book, “Instincts of the Herd in Peace and War,”[15] -gives us further material for study. He discusses the underlying causes -and results of “herd” tendencies, stressing the herd’s cohesiveness. - -The tendency the group has to standardize the habits of individuals -and to assign logical reasons for them is an important factor in the -work of the public relations counsel. The predominant point of view, -according to Mr. Trotter, which translates a rationalized point of view -into an axiomatic truth, arises and derives its strength from the fact -that it enlists herd support for the point of view of the individual. -This explains why it is so easy to popularize many ideas. - -“The cardinal quality of the herd is homogeneity.”[16] The biological -significance of homogeneity lies in its survival value. The wolf -pack is many times as strong as the combined strength of each of its -individual members. These results of homogeneity have created the -“herd” point of view. - -One of the psychological results of homogeneity is the fact that -physical loneliness is a real terror to the gregarious animal, and that -association with the herd causes a feeling of security. In man this -fear of loneliness creates a desire for identification with the herd in -matters of opinion. It is here, says Mr. Trotter,[17] that we find “the -ineradicable impulse mankind has always displayed towards segregation -into classes. Each one of us in his opinions and his conduct, in -matters of amusement, religion, and politics, is compelled to obtain -the support of a class, of a herd within the herd.” - -Says Mr. Trotter:[18] “The effect of it will clearly be to make -acceptable those suggestions which come from the herd, and those only. -It is of especial importance to note that this suggestibility is not -general, and it is only herd suggestions which are rendered acceptable -by the action of instinct, and man is, for example, notoriously -insensitive to the suggestions of experience. The history of what is -rather grandiosely called human progress everywhere illustrates this. -If we look back upon the developments of some such thing as the steam -engine, we cannot fail to be struck by the extreme obviousness of each -advance, and how obstinately it was refused assimilation until the -machine almost invented itself.” - -The workings of the gregarious instinct in man result frequently in -conduct of the most remarkable complexity, but it is characterized by -all of the qualities of instinctive action. Such conduct is usually -rationalized, but this does not conceal its real character. - -We may sincerely think that we vote the Republican ticket because we -have thought out the issues of the political campaign and reached our -decision in the cold-blooded exercise of judgment. The fact remains -that it is just as likely that we voted the Republican ticket because -we did so the year before or because the Republican platform contains a -declaration of principle, no matter how vague, which awakens profound -emotional response in us, or because our neighbor whom we do not like -happens to be a Democrat. - -Mr. Lippmann remarks:[19] “For the most part we do not first see and -then define, we define first and then see. In the great booming, -buzzing confusion of the outer world we pick out of the clutter what -is already defined for us, and we tend to perceive that which we have -picked out in the form stereotyped for us by our culture.” - -Mr. Trotter cites as a few of the examples of rationalization the -mechanism which “enables the European lady who wears rings in her ears -to smile at the barbarism of the colored lady who wears her rings -in her nose”[20] and the process which enables the Englishman “who -is amused by the African chieftain’s regard for the top hat as an -essential piece of the furniture of state to ignore the identity of his -own behavior when he goes to church beneath the same tremendous ensign.” - -The gregarious tendency in man, according to Mr. Trotter, results in -five characteristics which he displays in common with all gregarious -animals. - -1. “_He is intolerant and fearful of solitude, physical or -mental._”[21] The same urge which drives the buffalo into the herd -and man into the city requires on the part of the latter a sense of -spiritual identification with the herd. Man is never so much at home as -when on the band wagon. - -2. “_He is more sensitive to the voice of the herd than to any other -influence._” Mr. Trotter illustrates this characteristic in a paragraph -which is worth quoting in its entirety. He says: “It (the voice of -the herd) can inhibit or stimulate his thought and conduct. It is -the source of his moral codes, of the sanctions of his ethics and -philosophy. It can endow him with energy, courage, and endurance, and -can as easily take these away. It can make him acquiesce in his own -punishment and embrace his executioner, submit to poverty, bow to -tyranny, and sink without complaint under starvation. Not merely can -it make him accept hardship and suffering unresistingly, but it can -make him accept as truth the explanation that his perfectly preventable -afflictions are sublimely just and gentle. It is this acme of the power -of herd suggestion that is perhaps the most absolutely incontestable -proof of the profoundly gregarious nature of man.” - -3. “_He is subject to the passions of the pack in his mob violence and -the passions of the herd in his panics._” - -4. “_He is remarkably susceptible to leadership._” Mr. Trotter points -out that the need for leadership is often satisfied by leadership of a -quality which cannot stand analysis, and which must therefore satisfy -some impulse rather than the demands of reason. - -5. “_His relations with his fellows are dependent upon the recognition -of him as a member of the herd._” - -The gregarious tendency, Mr. Trotter believes, is biologically -fundamental. He finds therefore that the herd reaction is not confined -to outbreaks such as panics and mob violence, but that it is a constant -factor in all human thinking and feeling. Discussing the results of -the sensitiveness of the individual to the herd point of view, Mr. -Trotter says in part, “To believe must be an ineradicable natural bias -of man, or in other words, an affirmation, positive or negative, is -more readily accepted than rejected, unless its source is definitely -disassociated from the herd. _Man is not, therefore, suggestible by -fits and starts, not merely in panics and mobs, under hypnosis, and so -forth, but always, everywhere, and under any circumstances._” - -The suggestibility of people to ideas which are part of the standards -of their groups could not be more succinctly expressed than in the old -command, “When in Rome do as the Romans.” - -Psychologists have defined for the public relations counsel the -fundamental equipment of the individual mind and its relation to group -reactions. We have seen the motivations of the individual mind--the -motivations of the group mind. We have seen the characteristics in -thought and action of the individual and the group. All these things -we have touched on, though briefly, since they form the ground-work of -knowledge for the public relations counsel. Their application will be -discussed later. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE GROUP AND HERD ARE THE BASIC MECHANISMS OF PUBLIC CHANGE - - -The institutions that make public opinion carry on against a background -which is in itself a controlling factor. The real character of this -controlling background we shall take up later. Let us first consider -some examples that prove its existence--then we can look into its -origin and its standards. - -Powerful standards control the very institutions which are supposed to -help form public opinion. It is necessary to understand the origin, the -working and the strength of these institutions in order to understand -the institutions themselves and their effect upon the public. - -In tracing the interaction of institution upon public and public upon -institution, one finds a circle of obedience and leadership. The press, -the school and other leaders of thought are themselves working in a -background which they cannot entirely control. - -Let us turn to the press again for a text. - -That the press is so frequently unable to achieve a result on which -its combined members are unanimously set makes it evident that the -press itself is working in a medium which it cannot entirely control. -The _New York Times_ motto, “All the news that’s fit to print,” drives -this point home. The standards of fitness created in the minds of -the publishers express the point of view of a mass of readers, and -this enables the newspapers to achieve and maintain circulation and -financial success. - -The very fact that newspapers must sell to the public is an evidence -that they must please the public and in a measure obey it. In the press -there is a very human tendency to compromise between giving the public -what it wants and giving the public what it _should_ want. This is -equally true in music, where artists like McCormack or Rachmaninoff -popularize their programs. It is true in the drama, where managers, -producers and authors combine to adjust plots, situations and endings -to what the public will be willing to pay to see. It is true in art, in -architecture, in motion pictures. It is true of the lecture platform -and of the pulpit. - -So-called radical preachers, for example, usually succeed in -broadcasting their radical ideas only when their following is prepared -to accept their views. The Rev. Percy Stickney Grant was a great -problem to the upholders of the accepted order, only because there was -so large a body of parishioners eager to hear and accept his _dicta_. -The Rev. Billy Sunday, evangelist, derived his following from among -people who were awaiting a faith-stirring appeal. - -Another evidence of the fact that a powerful outside influence helps -make the forces that mould public opinion is shown by the newspapers in -the actual selection of news. The public actually demands that certain -types of facts be omitted. The standing problem of every newspaper -office--the winnowing of the day’s news from the mass of material that -reaches the editorial desks--illustrates pointedly the need there is to -examine the reasons which prompt the editors in selection. - -In an exceedingly interesting advertisement published by the _New York -Tribune_, on April 19, 1922, the _Tribune’s_ editors state the problem -most graphically. The advertisement is headed, “What Else Happened That -Day?” and it reads as follows: - - “Madame Caillaux was on trial in Paris for killing Gaston - Calmette. - - “In Long Island a woman was mysteriously shot in a doctor’s - office while on a night visit. - - “Forty-five stage coaches were held up in Yellowstone Park by - two masked bandits who took all the cash of 165 tourists. - - “Romantic crime, mystery crime, adventurous crime, a public - eagerly interested--and they suddenly dropped from the - newspapers. The public forgot them. As news, these events - became as if they had never happened. Something else had - happened. - - “The day of Madame Caillaux’s acquittal Austria declared war - on Serbia. Russia mobilized fourteen army corps on the German - border and the price of wheat in this country soared. - - “All the news that a newspaper prints is affected by what else - happened that day. If an earthquake occurs the day you announce - your daughter’s engagement her picture may be left out of the - newspaper. - - “The man who made a golf hole in one the day of the - Dempsey-Carpentiér fight was out of luck so far as an item on - the sporting page was concerned. - - “When real news breaks, semi-news must go. When real news is - scarce, semi-news returns to the front page. A very great man - picked out Sunday night to dine at a Bowery mission. Monday is - usually a dull day for news, although some big events, notably - the sinking of the _Titanic_, came over the wires Sunday night. - - “All papers feature big news. When there is no big news, real - editing is needed to select the real news from the semi-news. - - “What you read on dull news days is what fixes your opinions - of your country and of your compatriots. It is from the - non-sensational news that you see the world and assess, rightly - or wrongly, the true value of persons and events. - - “The relative importance your newspaper gives to an occurrence - affects your thought, your character, and your children’s - thought and character. For few daily habits are as firmly - established as the habit of reading the newspaper.” - -Now each of the items mentioned in the _Tribune’s_ advertisement was -news. Comparison of the newspapers of that day will undoubtedly show a -wide divergence in the manner in which these items were treated and in -the relative importance assigned to each. The basis of the selection -was clearly the general standard of the clientele of each individual -paper. - -And this selection of ideas for presentation goes on in every medium of -thought communication. - -This basis of selection has long been recognized. Thus in an article in -the _Atlantic Monthly_ for February, 1911, Professor Hargar, formerly -head of the Department of Journalism at the University of Kansas, -draws attention to it in regard to newspapers, and points out that -“the province of the city paper is one of news selection.[22] Out of -the vast skein of the day’s happenings what shall it select? More -‘copy’ is thrown away than is used. The _New York Sun_ is written as -definitely for a given constituency as is a technical journal. Out of -the day’s news it gives prominence to that which fits into its scheme -of treatment, and there is so much news that it can fill its columns -with interesting materials, yet leave untouched a myriad of events. The -_New York Evening Post_ appeals to another constituency, and is made -accordingly. The _World_ and the _Journal_ have a far different plan, -and ‘play up’ stories that are mentioned briefly, or ignored, by some -of their contemporaries. So the writer on the metropolitan paper is -trained to sift news, to choose from his wealth of material that which -the paper’s traditions demand shall receive attention; and so abundant -is the supply that he can easily set a feast without exhausting the -market’s offering. Unconsciously he becomes an epicure, and knows no -day will dawn without bringing him his opportunity.” - -Mr. Lippmann makes the same observation. He says:[23] “Every newspaper -when it reaches the reader is the result of a whole series of -selections as to what items shall be printed, in what position they -shall be printed, how much space each shall occupy, what emphasis -each shall have. There are no objective standards here. There are -conventions. Take two newspapers published in the same city on the same -morning. The headline of one reads: ‘Britain pledges aid to Berlin -against French Aggression. France Openly Backs Poles.’ The headline -of the second is: ‘Mrs. Stillman’s Other Love.’ Which you prefer is a -matter of taste, but _not entirely a matter of the editor’s taste_. It -is a matter of his _judgment as to what will absorb the half hour’s -attention a certain set of readers will give to his newspaper_.” - -The American stage continually bows to public demand and consciously -ascribes to the public the changes it undergoes. The character -of advertising has definitely yielded to public demand and fake -advertising has been to a great extent eliminated. Motion pictures have -responded, too, to public taste and public pressure, both as to the -kind of picture presented and, in isolated instances, to the type of -action permitted to appear. - -It is therefore apparent that these and the other institutions which -modify public opinion carry on against a background which is also -in itself a controlling factor. What the real character of this -controlling background is we shall now consider. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -THE APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES - - -Both Trotter, Martin and the other writers we have quoted confirm what -the actual experience of the public relations counsel shows--that the -cause he represents must have some group reaction and tradition in -common with the public he is trying to reach. This must exist before -they can react sympathetically upon one another. Given these common -fundamentals, much can be done to capitalize or destroy them. It is -as untrue to contend that public opinion is manufactured as it is to -contend that public opinion governs the agencies which mould it. - -The public relations counsel must continually realize that there are -always these limitations to his effectiveness. - -The very “leaders,” men who have been selected from the mass to “lead -the nation,” live with their ears to the ground for every slight -rumbling of public sentiment. Preachers, acknowledged to be the ethical -leaders of their flocks, express obedience to public opinion. - -The critics who hold these extreme points of view about public opinion -have too easily confused cause and effect. The sympathy between the -orator and his audience is not one which the orator can create. He -can intensify it, or by tactless speaking he can dissipate it, but he -cannot manufacture it from thin air. - -Margaret Sanger, a leader in the fight for education on birth control, -will evoke enthusiasm when she addresses an audience that approves -of her sentiments. When, however, she injects her point of view into -groups that have a preconceived aversion to them, she is in danger -of abuse, if not of actual physical violence. Likewise, a man who -would talk of prison reform at a time when the public is aroused by -an unwonted crime wave will find little response. On the other hand, -when Madam Curie, co-discoverer of radium, came to America, she found -a country that was prepared to meet her because of intensive effort on -the part of a large radium corporation and a committee of women formed -by Marie B. Meloney, to apprise the public of the importance of her -visit. Had she come two years sooner, she might have been ignored save -by a few scientists. - -A historic incident illustrative of the interaction between a leader -and a public is that of the sudden turn in the affairs of Rear -Admiral Dewey. The idol of the Spanish American War, he nevertheless -alienated popular affection by giving to his wife a house which had -been presented to him by an admiring public. For some reason the public -failed to sympathize with Admiral Dewey’s own undoubtedly sound and -worthy reasons. - -To say, therefore, as some persons have said at great length and -with considerable vehemence, that the public relations counsel is -responsible for public opinion, is not true. The public relations -counsel is not needed to persuade people to standardize their points of -view or to persist in their established beliefs. The established point -of view becomes established by satisfying some real or assumed human -need. - -In common with the scenario writer, the preacher, the statesman, the -dramatist, the public relations counsel, has his share in making up the -mind of the public. The public quite as truly makes up the mind of the -journalist, the pamphleteer, the scenario writer, the preacher and the -statesman. The main direction of the public mind is often irrevocably -set for its leaders. - -Hendrik Van Loon, in his “Story of Mankind,” paints a picture of the -action and interaction between Napoleon the Great and his public in -a way that might well have been made to illustrate our point. When -Napoleon led the public truly in the direction towards which it was -headed, that is, towards democracy and equality, he was its successful -leader and its idol, says Van Loon. When in the latter part of his -career he turned back to a goal which the public had discarded and was -eager to forget, that is, Bourbonism, Napoleon met with irresistible -defeat. - -“Damaged Goods” was able to make the American public accept the word -“syphilis” because the counsel on public relations projected the -doctrine of sex hygiene through those groups and sections of the public -which were prepared to work with him. - -Public opinion is the resultant of the interaction between two forces. - -This may help us to see with greater clarity the position the public -relations counsel holds in relation to the world at large, and what the -factors are with which he is concerned and by which he accomplishes his -work. - -We have gone somewhat elaborately into the fundamental equipment of -the individual mind and its relation to the group mind because the -public relations counsel in his work in these fields must constantly -call upon his knowledge of individual and group psychology. The public -relations counsel can come forward, first, as the representative of -established things when their security is shaken, or when they desire -greater power; and second, as the representative of the group which is -struggling to establish itself. - -Mr. Lippmann says propaganda is dependent upon censorship. From my -point of view the precise reverse is more nearly true. Propaganda is a -purposeful, directed effort to overcome censorship--the censorship of -the group mind and the herd reaction. - -The average citizen is the world’s most efficient censor. His own mind -is the greatest barrier between him and the facts. His own “logic-proof -compartments,” his own absolutism are the obstacles which prevent him -from seeing in terms of experience and thought rather than in terms of -group reaction. - -The training of the public relations counsel permits him to step out -of his own group to look at a particular problem with the eyes of an -impartial observer and to utilize his knowledge of the individual and -the group mind to project his clients’ point of view. - - - - -PART III - -TECHNIQUE AND METHOD - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE PUBLIC CAN BE REACHED ONLY THROUGH ESTABLISHED MEDIUMS OF -COMMUNICATION - - -When the United States was made up of small social units with common -traditions and a small geographic and social area, it was comparatively -simple for the proponent of a point of view to address his public -directly. If he represented a social or a political idea, he could, at -no very great expense and with no very great difficulty in the early -Eighteenth Century, cover New England with his pamphlets. He could -arouse the thirteen colonies with his journals and brochures. That was -because the heritage of these groups made them sensitive to the same -stimuli. One man, remarks Mr. Lippmann, then was able single-handed to -crystallize the common will of his country in his day and generation. -To-day the greatest superman as yet developed by humanity could not -accomplish the same result with the United States. - -Populations have increased. In this country geographical areas have -increased. Heterogeneity has also increased. A group living in any -given area is now extremely likely to have no common ancestry, no -common tradition, as such, and no cohesive intelligence. All these -elements make it necessary to-day for the proponent of a point of view -to engage an expert to represent him before society, an expert who -must know how to reach groups totally dissimilar as to ideals, customs -and even language. It is this necessity which has resulted in the -development of the counsel on public relations. - -Now it must be understood that the proponent of a point of view, -whether acting alone or under the guidance of a public relations -counsel, must utilize existing avenues of approach. Modern conditions -are such that it is not feasible to build up independent organs. -Innovators and innovations cannot create their own channels of -communication. They must for a great part work through the existing -daily press, the existing magazine, the existing lecture circuit, -existing advertising mediums, the existing motion picture channels -and other means for the communication of ideas. The public relations -counsel, on behalf of the groups he represents, must reach majorities -and minorities through their respective approaches. - -If the public relations counsel can succeed in presenting ideas and -facts to the public in spite of the heterogeneity of society, in -spite of the vast psychological and geographic problems, in spite of -the difficulties, monetary and otherwise, of reaching and influencing -populations numbering millions--if he can succeed in overcoming -these difficulties by a skillful understanding of the situation, his -profession is socially valuable. - -Absolute homogeneity, resulting in a dead level of uniformity in public -and individual reaction, is undesirable. On the other hand, agreement -on broad social purposes is essential to progress. Agreement on broad -industrial purposes may be equally desirable. Without such agreement, -without unified purposes, there can be no progress and the unit must -fall. The men who were most effective in stimulating national morale -during the war never lost sight of these underlying needs, whether they -stimulated a whole nation to ration itself voluntarily and give up the -eating of sugar, or whether they stimulated knitting and Red Cross -activities and voluntary contributions to funds. - -Three ways are cited by Mr. Lippmann to obtain cohesive force among -the special and local interests which make up national and social -units. The public relations counsel avails himself only of the third. -The first method which is described is that of “patronage and pork.” -This is very largely the method relied upon by certain legislative -bodies to-day to maintain cohesive force. As an instance of this, the -investigations of the methods used in connection with the bills to -secure the building of local post offices or the dredging of harbors or -rivers seem to point out that a representative from one community will -promise reciprocal support to the member from another community, if he -in turn will act favorably on another item. This method intensifies -the feeling that all are working together, even though they may not be -working for the highest interests of the country. Similarly the chief -executive of a city may institute certain measures to placate school -teachers. He will expect the school teachers to support him on some -other project at some other period. - -The second method named by Mr. Lippmann[24] is “government by terror -and obedience.” - -The third method is “government based on such a highly developed system -of information, analysis and self-consciousness that ‘the knowledge -of national circumstances and reasons of state’ is evident to all -men. The autocratic system is in decay. The voluntary system is in -its very earliest development and so, in calculating the prospects -of associations among large groups of people, a league of nations, -industrial government, or a federal union of states, the degree to -which the material for a common consciousness exists determines how -far coöperation will depend upon force, or upon the milder alternative -to force, which is patronage and privilege. The secret of great state -builders, like Alexander Hamilton, is that they know how to calculate -these principles.” - -The method of education by information, which was to a great extent -relied upon by the United States, for example, was evidenced in the -formation during the war of such agencies as the Committee on Public -Information. The public relations counsel, through the mediums chosen -by him, presented to the public the information necessary to aid in -understanding America’s war aims and ideals. George Creel and his -organization reached vast groups, representing every phase of our -national elements, in every modern method of thought communication. But -even in the United States the other two methods were used to obtain -cohesive force. - -In fact the method least relied upon in any of the belligerent -countries was that of “government based on such a highly developed -system of information, analysis and self-consciousness that ‘the -knowledge of national circumstances and reasons of state’ is evident to -all men.” - -This breakdown did not occur among small, inefficiently organised -groups. It occurred among the representatives of the highest -development in social organization. - -If this was the fate of the most highly organized social groups, -consider then the problem which confronts the social, economic, -educational or political groups in peace time, when they attempt to -obtain a public hearing for new ideas. Innumerable instances have shown -the difficulty that any group faces in gaining an acceptance for its -ideas. - -The development of the United States to its present size and -diversification has intensified the difficulty of creating a common -will on any subject because it has heightened the natural tendency of -men to separate into crowds opposed to one another in point of view. -This difficulty is further emphasized by the fact that often these -crowds live in different traditional, moral and spiritual worlds. The -physical difficulties of communication make group separation greater. - -Mr. Trotter’s conclusions from a study of the gregarious instinct are -singularly apt on this point. He says that[25] “the enormous power -of varied reaction possessed by man must render necessary for his -attainment of the full advantages of the gregarious habit a power -of inter-communication of absolutely unprecedented fineness. It is -clear that scarcely a hint of such power has yet appeared, and it is -equally obvious that it is this defect which gives to society the -characteristics which are the contempt of the man of science and the -disgust of the humanitarian.” - -When the worker was of the same ancestry as his employer, labor -difficulties, for example, could be discussed in terms which were -comprehensible to both parties. To-day the United States Steel -Corporation must exert tremendous effort to present its view to its -thousands of employees who are South Europeans, North Europeans, -Americans. - -Czechoslovakia, during the Peace Conference, wanted to appeal to -its countrymen in America, but this group was vague and scattered -in a population that lived in many cities throughout the country. -The public relations counsel who was engaged to reach this scattered -population had, therefore, to translate his appeals so that they -might be understood logically and emotionally by the educated and the -uneducated, the urban, the rural, the laboring and the professional man. - -The same problem in a quite different guise presented itself to the -public relations counsel who wanted to insure a public response to -the appeal of the Diaghileff Russian Ballet, of which the public knew -nothing. He had, therefore, to surmount the difficulties of dissimilar -geographic and artistic heritage and taste, of unwillingness to accept -novelty and of interests already firmly attached to other forms of -amusement. - -Dominant groups to-day are more secure in their position than was the -most successful autocrat of several hundred years ago, because to-day -the inertia which must be overcome in order to displace these groups -is so much greater. So many persons with so many different points of -view must be reached and unified before anything effective can be -done. Unity can be secured only by finding the greatest common factor -or divisor of all the groups; and it is difficult to find one common -factor which will appeal to a large and unhomogeneous group. - -A very simple and broadly appealing campaign for reaching the public -was undertaken recently by the railroads in combination. They utilized -the poster in graphic, fundamental appeal to awaken an instinct of -carefulness in regard to crossing railroad tracks. When the government -sought to reëstablish ex-service men, the public relations counsel -had to appeal vividly and quickly to employers and returned soldiers -out of the vast complexity of their interests. He selected the most -fundamental appeals of loyalty, fairness and patriotism in order to be -understood actively. - -Domination to-day is not a product of armies or navies or wealth or -policies. It is a domination based on the one hand upon accomplished -unity, and on the other hand upon the fact that opposition is generally -characterized by a high degree of disunity. The institution of electing -representatives to Congress is so firmly established that no existent -force to-day can overthrow it. More specifically, why is it that the -two parties, Republican and Democrat, have maintained themselves as -the dominant force for so many years? Only the leadership of Theodore -Roosevelt seemed for a time to supersede them; and events since then -have shown that it was Roosevelt and not his party who succeeded. The -Farmer-Labor Party, the Socialist Party despite years of campaigning -have failed to become even strongly recognizable opponents to the -established groups. The disunity of forces which seek to overthrow -dominant groups is illustrated every day in every phase of our -lives--political, moral and economic. A new point of view, although -faced by the difficulty of unifying a group to concerted will or -action, can seldom establish new mediums by which to approach those -people to whom it wishes to appeal. - -It is possible for advertising and pamphletizing to blanket the country -at a cost. To establish a new lecture service in order to reach the -public would be expensive, and effective only to a limited extent. -To establish an independent radio station to broadcast an idea would -be difficult and probably disproportionately expensive. To create a -new motion picture and a distributing agency would be slow, and very -difficult and costly, if possible at all. - -The difficulty of establishing and building new channels of approach -to the public is shown best by an examination of the principal mediums -which are available to the public relations counsel who desires to -direct public thought to the problems of the group he represents. - -It is only necessary to picture the newspaper and magazine situation -in the United States to-day to realize the difficulty of establishing -a new medium for the representation of a point of view. Americans are -accustomed to first-rate service from their press. They demand a high -standard not only in the physical appearance of their newspapers but -in the news service as well. Their daily paper must provide them with -items of local, state and international interest and importance. In the -complex activities of modern life, the newspaper must find and select -the subjects which interest its readers. It must also give to its -readers the news fresh from the making. Whatever vagueness there may be -about the definition of news itself, one admitted constant is that it -must be fresh. - -The cost of establishing a paper with a wide appeal, which will have -the facilities of gathering news, of printing and distributing it, -is such that groups can no longer depend upon their own organs of -expression. The Christian Science church does not depend upon its -admirable publication, the _Christian Science Monitor_ in order to -reach its own and new publics. Even where the issue demands a partisan -or class origin of a newspaper, as in the case of a political party, -the results achieved by so expensive and laborious a step seldom -justify it. - -Mr. Given in his book “Making a Newspaper,” points out the great -expense that is attached to the publication of a large metropolitan -daily. In proportion to their field of appeal and potential income, the -smaller dailies undoubtedly face the same economic problems. Mr. Given -says:[26] “Few persons not having intimate knowledge of a newspaper -have any idea of the great amount of money required to start one, or to -keep one running which is already established. The mechanical equipment -and delivery service alone may demand an investment of several hundred -thousand dollars--there is one New York paper whose mechanical -equipment cost $1,000,000--supplies are in constant demand, and the -salary list is a long and heavy one. For a new paper the salary list -of the editorial department is especially formidable, as editors and -reporters who have employment with well-established publications are -always reluctant to change to a venture that at best is in for a rough -voyage, and can be attracted only by high pay. - -“A good many of the newspapers that are started soon become memories, -and fewer than are generally supposed are paying their own way. The -sum of $3,000,000 would hardly suffice at the present time to equip a -first-class newspaper establishment in New York City, issue a morning -and an evening edition paper, build up a circulation of 75,000 for -each, and place the establishment on a money-making basis. Run on the -lines of those already established and possessing no extraordinary -features to recommend them to the public, the two papers might -continue to lose money for twenty years. When one learns that there -are in New York business managers who are compelled to reckon with an -average weekly expense account of nearly $50,000, he can understand -the possibility of heavy losses. And it might be added, in contrast, -that there are in New York newspapers which could not be bought for -$10,000,000.” - -Discussing substantially the same point, Mr. Oswald Garrison Villard -observes the narrowing down of the number of newspapers in our large -cities and points out the imminent danger of a news monopoly in -the United States. He says:[27] “It is the danger that newspaper -conditions, because of the enormously increased costs and this tendency -to monopoly, may prevent people who are actuated by passion and -sentiment from founding newspapers, which is causing many students of -the situation much concern. What is to be the hope for the advocates -of new-born and unpopular reforms if they cannot have a press of their -own, as the Abolitionists and the founders of the Republican party set -up theirs in a remarkably short time, usually with poverty-stricken -bank accounts?” - -The public relations counsel must always sub-divide the appeal of his -subject and present it through the widest possible variety of avenues -to the public. That these avenues must be existing avenues is both a -limitation and an opportunity. - -People accept the facts which come to them through existing channels. -They like to hear new things in accustomed ways. They have neither the -time nor the inclination to search for facts that are not readily -available to them. The expert, therefore, must advise first upon the -form of action desirable for his client and secondly must utilize the -established mediums of communication, in order to present to the public -a point of view. This is true whether it is that of a majority or -minority, old or new personality, institution or group which desires to -change by modification or intensification the store of knowledge and -the opinion of the public. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE INTERLAPPING GROUP FORMATIONS OF SOCIETY, THE CONTINUOUS SHIFTING -OF GROUPS, CHANGING CONDITIONS AND THE FLEXIBILITY OF HUMAN NATURE ARE -ALL AIDS TO THE COUNSEL ON PUBLIC RELATIONS - - -The public relations counsel works with public opinion. Public opinion -is the product of individual minds. Individual minds make up the -group mind. And the established order of things is maintained by the -inertia of the group. Three factors make it possible for the public -relations counsel to overcome even this inertia. These are, first, -the interlapping group formation of society; second, the continuous -shifting of groups; third, the changed physical conditions to which -groups respond. All of these are brought about by the natural inherent -flexibility of individual human nature. - -Society is not divided into two groups, although it seems so to many. -Some see modern society divided into capital and labor. The feminist -sees the world divided into men and women. The hungry man sees the -rich and the poor. The missionary sees the heathen and the faithful. If -society were divided into two groups, and no more, then change could -come about only through violent upheaval. - -Let us assume, for example, a society divided into capital and labor. -It is apparent on slight inspection that capital is not a homogeneous -group. There is a difference in point of view and in interests between -Elbert H. Gary or John D. Rockefeller, Jr., on the one hand, and the -small shopkeeper on the other. - -Occasions arise, too, upon which even in one group sharp differences -and competitive alignments take place. - -In the capital group, on the tariff question, for example, the retailer -with a net income of ten thousand dollars a year is apt to take a -radically different position from the manufacturer with a similar -income. In some respects the capitalist is a consumer. In other -respects he is a worker. Many persons are at the same time workers and -capitalists. The highly paid worker who also draws income from Liberty -Bonds or from shares of stock in industrial corporations is an example -of this. - -On the other hand, the so-called workers do not consist of a -homogeneous group with complete identity of interests. There may be -no difference in economic situation between manual labor and mental -labor; yet there is a traditional difference in point of view which -keeps these two groups far apart. Again, the narrower field of manual -labor, the group represented by the American Federation of Labor, -is frequently opposed in sympathies and interests to the group of -Industrial Workers of the World. Even in the American Federation of -Labor there are component units. The locomotive engineer, who belongs -to one of the great brotherhoods, has different interests from the -miner, who belongs to the United Mine Workers of America. - -The farmer is in a class by himself. Yet he in turn may be a tenant -farmer or the owner of an estate or of a small patch of tillable soil. - -That group so vaguely called “the public” consists of all sorts and -conditions of men, the particular kind or condition depending upon -the point of view of the individual who is making the observation or -classification. This is true likewise of great and small subdivisions -of the public. - -The public relations counsel must take into account that many groups -exist, and that there is a very definite interlapping of groups. -Because of this he is enabled to utilize many types of appeal in -reaching any one group, which he sub-divides for his purposes. - -The Federation for the Support of Jewish Charities recently instituted -a campaign to raise millions of dollars for what it called its -United Building Fund. The directors of that campaign might have -subdivided society for their purpose into two groups, the Jewish and -the non-Jewish group, or they might have decided that there were -rich people who could give and poor people who could not give. But -they realized the interlapping nature of the groups they wanted to -reach. They analyzed these component groups closely and divided them -into groups which had common business interests. For instance, they -organized a group of dentists, a group of bankers, a group of real -estate operators, a group of cloak-and-suit-house operators, a group of -motion picture and theatrical owners and others. - -Through an approach to each group on the strongest appeal to which the -members of the group as a group would respond, the charity received the -support of the individuals who made it up. The social aspirations of -the group, the ambitions for leadership of the group, the competitive -desires and philanthropic tendencies of the individuals who made up -these groups were capitalized. - -The interlapping nature of these groups made it possible, too, for the -public relations counsel to reach all the individuals by appeals that -were directed not merely to the individual as a member of the business -group with which he was aligned, but also as a member of a different -group. For instance, as a humanitarian, as a public-spirited citizen, -or as a devoted Jew. Because of this interlapping characteristic of -groups, the organization was able to accomplish its purpose more -successfully. - -Society is made up of an almost infinite number of groups, whose -various interests and desires overlap and interweave inextricably. The -same man may be at the same time the member of a minority religious -sect, supporter of the dominant political party, a worker in the sense -that he earns his living primarily by his labor, and a capitalist in -the sense that he has rents from real estate investments or interest -from financial investments. In an issue which involves his religious -sect he will align himself with one group. In an issue which involves -the choice of a President of the United States he aligns himself with -another group. In an industrial issue between capital and labor it -might be very nearly impossible to estimate in advance how he would -align himself. It is from the constant interplay of these groups and of -their conflicting interests upon each other that progress results, and -it is this fact that the public relations counsel takes into account -in pleading his cause. A movement called “The Go-Getters,” instituted -by a magazine, as much to keep itself before the public eye as to -stimulate commercial activity, found rapid acceptance throughout the -country because it appealed to trades of every description, because -each group had among its members men who belonged also to a large -group, the group of salesmen. - -Let us examine for a moment the personnel of the Horseshoe at the -Metropolitan Opera House. It is composed of people who are rich, -but this economic classification is only one, for the men and women -who assemble there are presumably music lovers. But we may again -break up this classification of music lovers and discover that -this group contains art lovers as well. It contains sportsmen. It -contains merchants and bankers. There are philosophers in it. There -are motorists and amateur farmers. When the Russian Ballet came to -America the essential parts of this group attended the performances, -but in going after his public, the public relations counsel based his -actions upon the interlapping of groups, and appealed to his entire -possible audience through their various interlapping group interests. -The art lover had been stimulated by hearing of the Ballet through -his art group or the art publications and by seeing pictures of the -costumes and the settings. The music lover, who might have had his -interest stimulated through seeing a photograph, also had his interest -stimulated by reading about the music. - -Every individual heard of the Russian Ballet in terms of one or more -different appeals and responded to the Ballet because of these appeals. -It is naturally difficult to say which one of them had its strongest -effect upon the individual’s mind. There was no doubt, however, that -the interlapping group formation of society made it possible for more -to be reached and to be moved than would have been the case if the -Ballet had been projected on the world at large only as a well-balanced -artistic performance. - -The utilization of this characteristic of society was shown recently in -the activities of a silk firm which desired to intensify the interest -of the public in silks. It realized that fundamentally women were its -potential buying public, but it understood, too, that the women who -made up this public were members of other groups as well. Thus, to -the members of women’s clubs, silk was projected as the embodiment of -fashion. To those women who visited museums, silk was displayed there -as art. To the schools in the same town, perhaps, silk became a lesson -in the natural history of the silkworm. To art clubs, silk became color -and design. To newspapers, the events that transpired in the silk -mills became news matters of importance. - -Each group of women was appealed to on the basis of its greatest -interest. The school teacher was appealed to in the schoolroom as an -educator, and after school hours as a member of a women’s club. She -read the advertisements about silk as a woman reader of the newspapers, -and as a member of the women’s group which visited the museums, saw -the silk there. The woman who stayed at home was brought into contact -with the silk through her child. All these groups made up the potential -market for silk, reached in this way in terms of many appeals to each -individual. These are the implications present for the public relations -counsel, who must take into account the interchange and interplay of -groups in pleading his cause. - -For society, the interesting outcome of this situation is that progress -seldom occurs through the abrupt expulsion by a group of its old ideas -in favor of new ideas, but rather through the rearrangement of the -thought of the individuals in these groups with respect to each other -and with respect to the entire membership of society. - -It is precisely this interlapping of groups--the variety, the -inconsistency of the average man’s mental, social and psychological -commitments which makes possible the gradual change from one state -of affairs or from one state of mind to another. Few people are life -members of one group and of one group only. The ordinary person is a -very temporary member of a great number of groups. This is one of the -most powerful forces making for progress in society because it makes -for receptivity and open-mindedness. The modification which results -from the inconstancy of individual commitments may be accelerated -and directed by conscious effort. These changes which come about so -stealthily that they remain unobserved in society until long after they -have taken place, can be made to yield results in chosen directions. - -Changed external conditions must be taken into account by the public -relations counsel in his work. - -Such changes carry with them modifications in the interests and points -of view of those they affect. They make it possible to modify group and -individual reaction. The public relations counsel, too, can modify the -results of the changed external condition by calling attention to it or -interpreting it in terms of the interest of those affected. - -The radio might be taken as an example. In considering the radio from -the standpoint of his work, the public relations counsel has a new -medium which can readily reach huge sections of the public with his -message. The public relations counsel must be ready to estimate, too, -what difference in viewpoint the radio will produce or has produced in -any given section of the public it reaches. He will have to consider, -for instance, that due to it the average farmer is much more closely in -contact with the world’s events than formerly. - -In the case of the radio, too, if his clients be, for instance, large -manufacturers of radio supplies and demand acceleration of this changed -external condition in order to increase their business, he may enlarge -the radio’s field, activity and effectiveness. Or, he may stress to -the public the importance of this new instrument and strengthen its -prestige, so that it may better fulfill its mission as a modifier of -conditions. - -Changed conditions can make possible modifications in the public point -of view, as can be instanced by a campaign carried on by savings -banks to encourage thrift. This campaign was successful at that time -because inflation made it easy for the public to see the wisdom of the -doctrines preached and to act upon them. - -Another example of this modification in the public point of view due to -a changed condition was the demand made by the Executive Committee of -the Central Trades and Labor Council of New York for the government to -take over the railways of the country. Public ownership had been a pet -subject for school debate for more than two decades, but it had seldom -passed into the field of serious consideration by the general public. -Yet the conditions of hardship created by the last strike of the -railroad shopmen caused a much greater receptivity in the public mind -to this idea. - -The airplane slowly emerges as an important factor in the daily life -of the people. What it will mean in the psychology of the nation when -commuters can settle within a radius of a hundred or more miles of -cities is only to be guessed at. Cities may cease to exist except as -industrial centers. There will be greater groups and broader interests. -There will be fewer geographic divisions. - -When the automobile was first used motoring was a dangerous and -thrilling sport. To-day it is found that the automobile has altered the -fundamental conception of daily life held by thousands of people, both -in the urban and the rural population. The automobile has removed much -of the isolation of country districts. It has increased the possibility -of education in them. It has caused millions of miles of excellent -roads to be laid. - -Changed conditions can be national or local in their import and -significance. They can be as national in scope as the revolutionary -introduction over night of a national prohibition law or as local as a -police captain’s edict in Coney Island against stockingless feminine -bathers. But they must be taken into consideration by the public -relations counsel in his work if they concern in the slightest degree -his particular public. - -The basic elements of human nature are fixed as to desires and -instincts and innate tendencies. The directions, however, in which -these basic elements may be turned by skillful handling are infinite. -Human nature is readily subject to modification. Many psychologists -have attempted to define the component parts of human nature, and while -their terminology is not the same, they do follow more or less the same -general outlines. - -Among the universal instincts are--self-preservation, which includes -the desire for shelter, sex hunger and food hunger. It is only -necessary to look through the pages of any magazine to see the way -in which modern business avails itself of these three fundamentals -to exert a coercive force upon the public it is trying to reach. The -American Radiator advertisement with its cozy home, the family gathered -around the radiator, the storm raging outside, definitely makes its -appeal to the universal desire for shelter. - -The Gulden Mustard advertisements with their graphic delineation of -cold cuts and an inviting glass of what is presumably near-beer -definitely appeal to our gustatory sense. - -As for the sex appeal, the soap advertisements run a veritable race -with these ends in view. Woodbury’s “the skin you love to touch” is a -graphic illustration. - -The instinct of self-preservation, one of the most basic of human -instincts, is most flexible. The dispensers of raisins, upon the -advice of an expert on public opinion, adopted a slogan to appeal -to this instinct: “Have you had your iron to-day?”--iron presumably -strengthening a man and increasing his powers of resistance. The same -man appealed to here will respond to the sales talk which persuades him -that insurance may save him at a time of need. - -An important hair-net manufacturer wanted to increase the sales of -his product. The public relations counsel, therefore, appealed to the -instinct of self-preservation of large groups of the public. He talked -of self-preservation with respect to hygiene for food dispensers. He -talked of self-preservation with respect to safety for women who work -near exposed machinery. - -The same instinct of preservation which may cause a worker to give up -necessary food so that he may save a little money will cause him to -contribute money to a common fund if he can be shown that this too is a -safety measure. - -The public relations counsel extracts from his clients’ causes ideas -which will capitalize certain fundamental instincts in the people he -is trying to reach, and then sets about to project these ideas to his -public. - -William MacDougall, the psychologist, classifies seven -primary instincts with their attendant emotions. They -are flight-fear, repulsion-disgust, curiosity-wonder, -pugnacity-anger, self-display-elation, self-abasement-subjection, -parental-love-tenderness. These instincts are utilized by the public -relations counsel in developing ideas and emotions which will modify -the opinions and actions of his public. - -The action of public health officials in stressing the possibility of -a plague or epidemic is effective because it appeals to the emotion -of fear, and presents the possibility of preventing the spread of the -epidemic or plague. Of course, the element of flight in this particular -situation is not one of movement, but of a desire to get away from the -danger. - -The instinct of repulsion with its attendant emotion of disgust is not -often called upon by the public relations counsel in his work. - -On the other hand, curiosity and wonder are continually employed. In -Governmental work, particularly, the statesman who has an announcement -to make is continually exhausting every effort to arouse public -interest in advance of the actual announcement. Feelers are often sent -out to the public to help create curiosity. - -It is interesting to note, too, that even book publishers rely upon the -element of wonder, termed suspense in drama, to increase their public -and their sales. Our now famous “What is wrong with this picture?” -advertisements, and those used for the O. Henry books illustrate this -point. - -Pugnacity with its attendant emotion of anger is a human constant. -The public relations counsel uses this continually in constructing -all kinds of events that will call it into play. Because of it, too, -he is often forced to enact combats and create issues. He stages -battles against evils in which the antagonist is personified for -the public. New York City, when it wants to reduce the death rate -from tuberculosis, aligns its citizens yearly in a fight against the -disease and continues the idea of combat by announcing the number of -victims from year to year. It uses the terminology of warfare in these -bulletins. Such phrases in this or other health campaigns as “kill the -germs,” “swat the fly,” illustrate this point. The public responds to -a battle in a way that it might not respond to a plea to take care of -itself or to do its civic duty. - -Under pugnacity would come that technique of the public relations -counsel which is continually devising tests and contests. Mr. Martin, -in his experience as director of the Cooper Union Forum, noticed that -the sort of interest which will most easily bring an assemblage of -people together is most commonly an issue of some kind. - -On the one hand, says Mr. Martin:[28] “I have seen efforts made in New -York to hold mass meetings to discuss affairs of the very greatest -importance, and I have noted the fact that such efforts usually fail -to get out more than a handful of specially interested persons, no -matter how well advertised, if the subject to be considered happens -not to be of a controversial nature. On the other hand, if the matter -to be considered is one about which there is keen partisan feeling and -popular resentment--if it lends itself to the spectacular personal -achievement of one whose name is known, especially in the face of -opposition or difficulties--or if the occasion permits of resolutions -of protest, of the airing of wrongs, of denouncing a business of some -kind, or of casting statements of external principles in the teeth of -‘enemies of humanity,’ then, however trivial the occasion, we may count -on it that our meeting will be well attended. - -“It is this element of conflict, directly or indirectly, which plays -an overwhelming part in the psychology of every crowd. It is the -element of contest which makes baseball so popular. A debate will -draw a larger crowd than a lecture. One of the secrets of the large -attendance of the forum is the fact that discussion--‘talking back’--is -permitted and encouraged. The Evangelist Sunday undoubtedly owes the -great attendance at his meetings in no small degree to the fact that he -is regularly expected to abuse some one. - -“Nothing so easily catches general attention and creates a crowd as a -contest of any kind. The crowd unconsciously identifies its members -with one or the other competitor. Success enables the winning crowd -to ‘crow’ over the losers. Such an occasion becomes symbolic and is -utilized by the ego to enhance its feeling of importance.” - -The public relations counsel finds in the instinct of pugnacity a -powerful weapon for enlisting public support for or public opposition -to a point of view in which he is interested. On this principle, he -will, whenever possible, state his case in the form of an issue and -enlist, in support of his side, such forces as are available. - -The dangers of the method must be recognized and borne in mind. -Pugnacity can be enlisted on the side of decency and progress. He who -looks at it from that point of view will agree with Mr. Pulitzer, -the great publisher, that it seems neither extraordinary nor culpable -that “people and press should be more interested in the polemical than -in the platitudinous; in blame than in painting the lily; in attack -than in sending laudatory coals to Newcastle.” On the other hand, the -instinct of pugnacity can be utilized to suppress and to oppress. From -the point of view of the public relations counsel, who is interested -from day to day in accomplishing definite results on specific issues, -the dangers of the method are only the ordinary dangers of every -weapon, physical or psychological, which has been devised. - -It is interesting in this connection to note that a newspaper uses -the same methods to encourage interest in itself as do others. The -_New York Times_ promoted public interest in heavier-than-air-machines -by creating sporting issues of contests between aviators on altitude -records, continuous stays in the air, distance flying and so forth. - -Mr. Lippmann comments on this same characteristic: - -“But where pugnacity is not enlisted, those of us who are not directly -involved find it hard to keep up our interest. For those who are -involved the absorption may be real enough to hold them even when no -issue is involved. They may be exercised by sheer joy in activity or -by subtle rivalry or invention. But for those to whom the whole problem -is external and distant, these other faculties do not easily come into -play. In order that the faint image of the affair shall mean something -to them, they must be allowed to exercise the love of struggle, -suspense, and victory.”[29] - -We have to take sides. We have to be able to take sides. In the -recesses of our being we must step out of the audience onto the stage -and wrestle as the hero for the victory of good over evil. We must -breathe into the allegory the breath of our life. - -Recently a philanthropic group was advised to hold a prize fight -for charity. This recognition of the importance of the principle of -pugnacity was correct. It is a question whether the application was -not somewhat ill advised and in bad taste. The Consumer’s Committee -of Women opposed to American Valuation was avowedly aligned to fight -against a section of the tariff presented by Chairman Fordney. The Lucy -Stone League, a group who wish to make it easy for married women to -maintain their maiden names, dramatized the fight that they are making -against tradition by staging a debate at their annual banquet. - -Very often the public relations counsel utilizes the -self-display-elation motive and draws public attention to particular -people in groups, in order to give them a greater interest in the -work they are espousing. It is often found to be true that when a -man’s adherence or allegiance to a movement is lukewarm and he is -publicly praised for his adherence to it, he will become a forceful -factor in it. That is why the intelligent hospital boards name rooms -or beds after their donors. It is one of the reasons for the elaborate -letterheads so many of our philanthropic organizations have. - -Self-abasement and subjection, its attendant emotion, are seldom called -upon. On the other hand, parental love and tenderness are continually -employed, viz., the effort of the baby-kissing candidate for public -office or the attempt to popularize a brand of silk by having a child -present a silk flag to a war veteran at a public ceremony. The whole -flood of post-war charity-drives was keyed to this pitch. The starving -Belgian orphan personified in every picture, the starving Armenian, and -then the hungry Austrian and German orphans appeared, and the campaigns -all succeeded on this issue. Even issues where the child was not the -predominant factor used this appeal. - -Four other instincts are listed in this -classification--gregariousness, individualism, acquisition and -construction. We have already dealt with the first at length. - -The gregarious instinct in man gives the public relations counsel -the opportunity for his most potent work. The group and herd show -everywhere the leader, who because of certain qualifications, certain -points that are judged by the herd to be important to its life, stands -out and is followed more or less implicitly by it. - -A group leader gains such power with his group or herd that even on -matters which have had nothing to do with the establishment or gaining -of that leadership he is considered a leader and is followed by his -group. - -It is this attribute of men and women that again gives the public -relations counsel free play. - -A group leader of any given cause will bring to a new cause all those -who have looked to his leadership. For instance, if the adherence -of a prominent Republican is secured for the League of Nations, his -adherence will probably bring to the League of Nations many other -prominent Republicans. - -The group leadership with which the public relations counsel may work -is limited only by the character of the groups he desires to reach. -After an analysis of his problem the subdivisions must be made. His -action depends upon his selective capacity, and the possibility of -approach to the leaders. These leaders may represent therefore a wide -variety of interests--society leaders or leaders of political groups, -leaders of women or leaders of sportsmen, leaders of divisions by -geography, or divisions by age, divisions by language or by education. -These subdivisions are so numerous that there are large companies in -the United States whose business it is to supply lists of groups and -group leaders in different fields. - -This same mechanism is carried out in many other cases. In looking for -group leaders, the public relations counsel must realize that some -leaders have more varied and more intensified authority than others. -One leader may represent the ideals and ideas of several or numerous -groups. His coöperation on one basis may bring into alignment and may -carry with it the other groups who are interested in him primarily for -other reasons. - -The public relations counsel, let us say, enlists the support of a -man, president of two associations; (a) an economic association, (b) -a welfare association. The issue is an economic one, purely. But -because of his leadership, the membership of association (b), that -is, the welfare group, joins him in the movement as interestedly as -association (a) does, which has the more logical, direct reason for -entering the field. - -I have given this in general terms rather than as a specific instance. -The principle which governs the interlapping and continually shifting -group formation of society also governs the gregariousness. - -Individualism, another instinct, is a concomitant of gregariousness, -and naturally follows it. The desire for individual expression is -always a trait of the individuals who go to make up the group. The -appeal to individualism goes closely in hand with other instincts, such -as self-display. - -The instincts of acquisition and construction are minor instincts as -far as the ordinary work of the public relations counsel is concerned. -Examples of this type of appeal come readily to mind in the “Own your -own home” and “Build your own home” campaigns. - -The innate tendencies are susceptibility to suggestion, imitation, -habit and play. Susceptibility to suggestion and imitation might well -be classified under gregariousness, which we have already discussed. - -Under habit would come one very important human trait of which the -public relations counsel avails himself continually. The mechanism -which habit produces and which makes it possible for the public -relations counsel to use habit is the stereotype we have already -touched upon. - -Mental habits create stereotypes just as physical habits create certain -definite reflex actions. These stereotypes or reflex images are a great -aid to the public relations counsel in his work. - -These short-cuts to reactions make it possible for the average mind -to possess a much larger number of impressions than would be possible -without them. At the same time these stereotypes or _clichés_ are not -necessarily truthful pictures of what they are supposed to portray. -They are determined by the outward stimuli to which the individual has -been subject as well as by the content of his mind. - -To most of us, for example, the stereotype of the general is a stern, -upright gentleman in uniform and with gold braid, preferably on a -horse. The stereotype of a farmer is a slouching, overall-clad man -with straw sticking out of his mouth and a straw hat on his head. He -is supposed to be very shrewd when it comes to matters of his own farm -and very ignorant when it comes to matters of culture. He despises -“city fellers.” All this is the connotation brought up by the one word -“farmer.” - -The public relations counsel sometimes uses the current stereotypes, -sometimes combats them and sometimes creates new ones. In using them -he very often brings to the public he is reaching a stereotype they -already know, to which he adds his new ideas, thus he fortifies his -own and gives a greater carrying power. For instance, the public -relations counsel might well advise Austria, which in the public mind -might still represent a belligerent country, to bring forward other -Austrian stereotypes, namely the Danube waltz stereotype and the Danube -blue stereotype. An appeal for help would then come from the country -of the well-liked Danube waltz and Danube blue--the country of gayety -and charm. The new idea would be carried to those who accepted the -stereotypes they were familiar with. - -The combating of the stereotype is seen in the battle waged against -the American Valuation Plan by the public relations counsel. The -formulators of the plan dubbed it “American Valuation” in order to -capitalize on the stereotype of “American.” In fighting the plan, its -opponents put the word “American” in quotation marks whenever reference -was made to the subject in order to question the authenticity of the -use of this stereotype. Thus patriotism was definitely removed from -what was evidently an economical and political issue. - -The public relations counsel creates new stereotypes. Roosevelt, his -own best adviser, was an apt creator of such stereotypes--“square -deal, de-lighted, molly-coddle, big stick,” created new concepts for -general acceptance. - -Stereotypes sometimes become shop-worn and lose their power with the -public that has previously accepted them. “Hundred per cent American” -died from over use. - -Visible objects as stereotypes are often used by the public relations -counsel with great effectiveness to produce the desired impression. -A national flag on the orator’s platform is a most common device. A -scientist must of necessity be in juxtaposition with his instruments. -A chemist is not a chemist to the public unless test tubes and -retorts are near him. A doctor must have his kit, or, formerly, a -Van Dyke beard. In photographs of food factory buildings white is a -good stereotype for cleanliness and purity. In fact, all emblems and -trade-marks are stereotypes. - -There is one danger in the use of stereotypes by the public relations -counsel. That is, by the substitution of words for acts, demagogues in -every field of social relationship can take advantage of the public. - -Play as an innate tendency is utilized by the public relations counsel -whenever conditions merit such an appeal. When a charity committee is -advised to institute a street fair to gather money, the committee is -recognizing this tendency. When a city government arranges fireworks -for its citizens, when a metropolitan news-daily stages marble contests -or horseshoe pitching events, the play tendency of human society finds -an outlet and the initiators of the event find friends. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -AN OUTLINE OF METHODS PRACTICABLE IN MODIFYING THE POINT OF VIEW OF A -GROUP - - -On the question of specific devices upon which the public relations -counsel relies to accomplish his ends, volumes could probably be -written without exhausting the subject. The detailed presentation -is potentially endless. Pages could be filled with instances of the -stimuli to which men and women respond, the circumstances under -which they will respond favorably or unfavorably, and the particular -application of each of these stimuli to concrete conditions. Such -an outline, however, would have less value than an outline of -fundamentals, since circumstances are never the same. - -These principles, by and large, consist of fundamentals already -defined, to which the public relations counsel has recourse in common -with the statesman, the journalist, the preacher, the lecturer and all -others engaged in attempting to modify public opinion or public conduct. - -How does the public relations counsel approach any particular problem? -First he must analyze his client’s problem and his client’s objective. -Then he must analyze the public he is trying to reach. He must devise a -plan of action for the client to follow and determine the methods and -the organs of distribution available for reaching his public. Finally -he must try to estimate the interaction between the public he seeks -to reach and his client. How will his client’s case strike the public -mind? And by public mind here is meant that section or those sections -of the public which must be reached. - -Let us take the example of a public relations counsel who is confronted -with the specific problem of modifying or influencing the attitude -of the public toward a given tariff bill. A tariff bill, of course, -is primarily the application of theoretical economics to a concrete -industrial situation. The public relations counsel in analyzing must -see himself simultaneously as a member of a large number of publics. He -must visualize himself as a manufacturer, a retailer, an importer, an -employer, a worker, a financier, a politician. - -Within these groups he must see himself again as a member of the -various subdivisions of each of these groups. He must see himself, for -example, as a member of a group of manufacturers who obtain the bulk of -their raw material within the United States, and at the same time as a -member of a group of manufacturers who obtain large portions of their -raw material from abroad and whose importations of raw material may be -adversely affected by the pending tariff bill. He must see himself not -only as a farm laborer but also as a mechanic in a large industrial -center. He must see himself as the owner of the department store and as -a member of the buying public. He must be able to generalize, as far as -possible, from these points of view in order to strike upon the appeal -or group of appeals which will be influential with as many sections of -society as possible.[30] - -Let us assume that our problem is the intensification in the public -mind of the prestige of a hotel. The problem for the public relations -counsel is to create in the public mind the close relationship between -the hotel and a number of ideas that represent the things the hotel -desires to stand for in the public mind. - -The counsel therefore advises the hotel to make a celebration of its -thirtieth anniversary which happens to fall at this particular time -and suggests to the president the organization of an anniversary -committee of a body of business men who represent the cream of the -city’s merchants. This committee is to include men who represent a -number of stereotypes that will help to produce the inevitable result -in the public mind. There are to be also a leading banker, a society -woman, a prominent lawyer, an influential preacher, and so forth until -a cross section of the city’s most telling activities is mirrored in -the committee. The stereotype has its effect, and what may have been an -indefinite impression beforehand has been reënforced and concretized. -The hotel remains preëminent in the public mind. The stereotypes have -proved its preëminence. The cause has been strongly presented to the -public by identification with different group stereotypes. - -Here is another example. A packing company desires to establish in the -public mind the fact that the name of its product is synonymous with -bacon. Its public relations counsel advises a contest on “Bring home -the Beech-Nut,” the contest to be open to salesmen and to be based on -the best sale made by salesmen throughout the country during the month -of August. But here again it is necessary to use a stereotype to help -the possible contestant identify the cause. A committee of nationally -known sales-managers is chosen to act as judges for the contest and -immediately success is assured. Thousands of salesmen compete for the -prize. The stereotype has bespoken the value of the contest. - -The public relations counsel can try to bring about this identification -by utilizing the appeals to desires and instincts discussed in the -preceding chapter, and by making use of the characteristics of the -group formation of society. His utilization of these basic principles -will be a continual and efficient aid to him. - -He must make it easy for the public to pick his issue out of the great -mass of material. He must be able to overcome what has been called “the -tendency on the part of public attention to ‘flicker’ and ‘relax.’” He -must do for the public mind what the newspaper, with its headlines, -accomplishes for its readers. - -Abstract discussions and heavy facts are the groundwork of his involved -theory, or analysis, but they cannot be given to the public until -they are simplified and dramatized. The refinements of reason and the -shadings of emotion cannot reach a considerable public. - -When an appeal to the instincts can be made so powerful as to secure -acceptance in the medium of dissemination in spite of competitive -interests, it can be aptly termed news. - -The public relations counsel, therefore, is a creator of news for -whatever medium he chooses to transmit his ideas. It is his duty to -create news no matter what the medium which broadcasts this news. -It is news interest which gives him an opportunity to make his idea -travel and get the favorable reaction from the instincts to which he -happens to appeal. News in itself we shall define later on when we -discuss “relations with the press.” But the word news is sufficiently -understood for me to talk of it here. - -In order to appeal to the instincts and fundamental emotions of the -public, discussed in previous chapters, the public relations counsel -must create news around his ideas. News will, by its superior inherent -interest, receive attention in the competitive markets for news, which -are themselves continually trying to claim the public attention. The -public relations counsel must lift startling facts from his whole -subject and present them as news. He must isolate ideas and develop -them into events so that they can be more readily understood and so -that they may claim attention as news. - -The headline and the cartoon bear the same relation to the newspaper -that the public relations counsel’s analysis of a problem bears to the -problem itself. - -The headline is a compact, vivid simplification of complicated issues. -The cartoon provides a visual image which takes the place of abstract -thought. So, too, the analyses the public relations counsel makes, -lift out the important, the interesting, and the easily understandable -points in order to create interest. - -“Yet human qualities are themselves,” says Mr. Lippmann,[31] “vague and -fluctuating. They are best remembered by a physical sign. And therefore -the human qualities we tend to ascribe to the names of our impressions, -themselves tend to be visualized in physical metaphors. The people of -England, the history of England, condense into England, and England -becomes John Bull, who is jovial and fat, not too clever, but well able -to take care of himself. The migration of a people may appear to some -as a meandering of a river, and to others like a devastating flood. The -courage people display may be objectified as a rock, their purpose as -a road, their doubts as forks of the road, their difficulties as ruts -and rocks, their progress as a fertile valley. If they mobilize their -dreadnaughts they unsheath a sword. If their army surrenders they are -thrown to earth. If they are oppressed they are on the rack or under -the harrow.” - -Perhaps the chief contribution of the public relations counsel to the -public and to his client is his ability to understand and analyze -obscure tendencies of the public mind. It is true that he first -analyzes his client’s problem--he then analyzes the public mind; he -utilizes the mediums of communication between the two, but before he -does this he must use his personal experience and knowledge to bring -two factors into alignment. It is his capacity for crystallizing the -obscure tendencies of the public mind before they have reached definite -expression, which makes him so valuable. - -His ability to create those symbols to which the public is ready to -respond; his ability to know and to analyze those reactions which -the public is ready to give; his ability to find those stereotypes, -individual and community, which will bring favorable responses; his -ability to speak in the language of his audience and to receive from it -a favorable reception are his contributions. - -The appeal to the instincts and the universal desires is the basic -method through which he produces his results. - - - - -PART IV - -ETHICAL RELATIONS - - - - -CHAPTER I - -A CONSIDERATION OF THE PRESS AND OTHER MEDIUMS OF COMMUNICATION IN -THEIR RELATION TO THE PUBLIC RELATIONS COUNSEL - - -When the question of preparing and publishing this volume was first -considered, the publishers wrote letters to several hundred prominent -men asking their opinions, individually, as to the probable public -interest in a work dealing with public relations. Newspaper editors and -publishers, heads of large industries and public service corporations, -philanthropists, university presidents and heads of schools of -journalism, as well as other prominent men made up the number. Their -replies are exceedingly interesting in as much as they show, almost -uniformly, the increasing emphasis placed upon public relations by -leaders in every important phase of American life. These replies show -also a growing understanding of the need for specialized service in -this field of specialized problems. - -Particularly interesting were the comments of newspaper publishers -and editors in response to Mr. Liveright’s inquiry, for nothing could -better indicate the light in which the public relations counsel is held -by those very individuals who are supposed popularly to disparage his -value in the social and economic scheme of things. - -What are the relations of the public relations counsel to the various -mediums he can employ to carry his message to the public? There is, -of course, first and perhaps most important, the press. There is the -moving picture; the lecture platform; there is advertising; there is -the direct-by-mail effort; there is the stage--drama and music; there -is word of mouth; there is the pulpit, the schoolroom, the legislative -chamber--to all of these the public relations counsel has distinct -relationship. - -The journalist of to-day, while still watching the machinations of the -so-called “press agent” with one half-amused eye, appreciates the value -of the service the public relations counsel is able to give him. - -To the newspaper the public relations counsel serves as a purveyor of -news. - -As disseminator of news the newspaper holds an important position in -American life. This has not always been the case, for the emphasis upon -the news side is a development of recent years. Originally, the name -newspaper was scarcely an accurate or appropriate designation for -the units of the American press. So-called newspapers were, in fact, -vehicles for the expression of opinion of their editors. They contained -little or no news, as that word is understood to-day--largely because -difficulties of communication made it impossible to obtain any but the -most local items of interest. The public was accustomed to look to its -press for the opinion of its favorite editor upon subjects of current -interest rather than for the recital of mere facts. - -To-day, on the other hand, the expression of editorial opinion is only -secondarily the function of a newspaper; and thousands of persons read -newspapers with whose editorial policy they do not in the slightest -agree. Such a situation would have been nearly impossible in the days -of Horace Greeley. - -The need which the American press is to-day engaged in satisfying is -the need for news. “A paper,” says Mr. Given,[32] “may succeed without -printing editorials worth reading and without having any aim other than -the making of money, but it cannot possibly thrive unless it gets the -news and prints it in a pleasing and attractive form.” - -Writing from a long experience with the profession of journalism, -Will Irwin reaches the conclusion that[33] “news is the main thing, -the vital consideration of the American newspaper; it is both an -intellectual craving and a commercial need to the modern world. In -popular psychology it has come to be a crying primal want of the mind, -like hunger of the body. Tramp windjammers, taking on the pilot after -a long cruise, ask for the papers before they ask, as formerly, for -fresh fruit and vegetables. Whenever, in our later Western advance, -we Americans set up a new mining camp, an editor, his type slung -on burro-back, comes in with the missionaries, evangel himself of -civilization. Most dramatically the San Francisco disaster illuminated -this point. On the morning of April 20, 1906, the city’s population -huddled in parks and squares, their houses gone, death of famine or -thirst a rumor and a possibility. The editors of the three morning -newspapers, expressing the true soldier spirit which inspires this most -devoted profession, had moved their staffs to the suburb of Oakland, -and there, on the presses of the _Tribune_, they had issued a combined -_Call-Chronicle-Examiner_. When, at dawn, the paper was printed, an -editor and a reporter loaded the edition into an automobile and drove -it through the parks of the disordered city, giving copies away. They -were fairly mobbed, they had to drive at top speed, casting out the -sheets as they went, to make any progress at all. No bread wagon, no -supply of blankets, caused half so much stir as did the arrival of the -news. - -“We need it, we crave it; this nerve of the modern world transmits -thought and impulse from the brain of humanity to its muscles; the -complex organism of modern society could no more move without it than -a man could move without filaments and ganglia. On the commercial -and practical side, the man of even small affairs must read news -in the newspapers every day to keep informed on the thousand and -one activities in the social structure which affect his business. -On the intellectual and spiritual side, it is--save for the Church -alone--our principal outlook on the higher intelligence. The thought -of legislature, university, study, and pulpit comes to the common man -first--and usually last--in the form of news. The tedious business of -teaching reading in public schools has become chiefly a training to -consume newspapers. We must go far up in the scale of culture before we -find an intellectual equipment more a debtor to the formal education of -school and college than to the haphazard education of news.” - -The extent to which the editorial aspect of the newspaper has given way -to an increased importance of the news columns is vividly illustrated -in the anecdote about the _Philadelphia North American_, which Mr. -Irwin relates. “The _North American_,” says Mr. Irwin, “had declared -for local option. A committee of brewers waited on the editor; they -represented one of the biggest groups in their business. ‘This is -an ultimatum,’ they said. ‘You must change your policy or lose our -advertising. We’ll be easy on you. We don’t ask you to alter your -editorial policy, _but you must stop printing news of local-option -victories_.’[34] So the deepest and shrewdest enemies of the body -politic give practical testimony to the ‘power of the press’ in its -modern form.” - -In the case of the brewers of Philadelphia it is my own opinion that -if they had been well advised, instead of attempting to interfere with -the policy of the _North American_, they would have made it a point to -bring to the attention of the _North American_ every instance of the -defeat of local option. The newspaper would undoubtedly have published -both sides of the story, as far as both sides consisted of news. - -It is because he acts as the purveyor of truthful, accurate -and verifiable news to the press that the conscientious and -successful counsel on public relations is looked upon with favor -by the journalist. And in the Code of Ethics recently adopted in -Washington by a national editors’ conference, his function is given -acknowledgment. Just as in the case of the other mediums for the -dissemination of information, mediums which range from the lecture -platform to the radio, the press, too, looks to the public relations -counsel for information about the causes he represents. - -Since news is the newspaper’s backbone, it is obvious that an -understanding of what news actually is must be an integral part of the -equipment of the public relations counsel. For the public relations -counsel must not only supply news--he must create news. This function -as the creator of news is even more important than his others. - -It has always been interesting to me that a concise, comprehensive -definition of news has never been written. What news is, every -newspaper man instinctively knows, particularly as it concerns the -needs of his own paper. But it is almost as difficult to define news -as it is to describe a circular staircase without making corkscrew -gestures with one’s hand, or as to define some of the abstruse concepts -of the metaphysician, like space or time or reality. - -What is news for one newspaper may have no interest whatever, or very -little interest, for another newspaper. There are almost as many -definitions of news as there are journalists who take the trouble -to define it. Certain of the characteristics of news, of course, can -be readily seized upon; and definitions of news generally consist of -particular emphasis upon one or another of these characteristics. Mr. -Given remarks that[35] “news was once defined as ‘Fresh information -of something that has lately taken place.’...” The author of this -definition puts the chief emphasis upon the element of timeliness. -Undoubtedly in most news that element must be present. It would not be -true, however, to say that it must always be present, nor would it be -true to say that everything which is timely is news. Obviously, the -well-nigh infinite number of occurrences which take place in daily life -throughout the world are timely enough, so far as each of them in its -respective environment is concerned; but few of them ever become news. - -Mr. Irwin defines news as “a departure from the established order.” -Thus, according to Mr. Irwin, a criminal act is news because it is -a departure from the established order, and at the same time, an -exceptional display of fidelity, courage or honesty is also news for -the same reason. - -“With our education in established order, we get the knowledge,” he -says,[36] “that mankind in bulk obeys its ideals of that order only -imperfectly. When something brings to our attention an exceptional -adhesion to religion, virtue, and truth, that becomes in itself a -departure from regularity, and therefore news. The knowledge that most -servants do their work conscientiously and many stay long in the same -employ is not news. But when a committee of housewives presents a -medal to a servant who has worked faithfully in one employ for fifty -years, that becomes news, because it calls our attention to a case of -exceptional fidelity to the ideals of established order. The fact that -mankind will consume an undue amount of news about crime and disorder -is only a proof that the average human being is optimistic, that he -believes the world to be true, sound and working upward. Crimes and -scandals interest him most because they most disturb his picture of the -established order. - -“That, then, is the basis of news. The mysterious news sense which -is necessary to all good reporters rests on no other foundation -than acquired or instinctive perception of this principle, together -with a feeling for what the greatest number of people will regard -as a departure from the established order. In Jesse Lynch William’s -newspaper play, ‘The Stolen Story,’ occurs this passage: - - “(_Enter Very Young Reporter; comes down to city desk with air - of excitement._) - - “VERY YOUNG REPORTER (_considerably impressed_): ‘Big story. - Three dagoes killed by that boiler explosion!’ - - “THE CITY EDITOR (_reading copy. Doesn’t look up_): ‘Ten - lines.’ (_Continues reading copy._) - - “VERY YOUNG REPORTER (_looks surprised and hurt. Crosses over - to reporter’s table. Then turns back to city desk. Casual - conversational tone_): ‘By the way. Funny thing. There was a - baby carriage within fifty feet of the explosion, but it wasn’t - upset.’ - - “THE CITY EDITOR (_looks up with professional interest_): - ‘That’s worth a dozen dead dagoes. Write a half column.’ - - “(_Very Young Reporter looks still more surprised, perplexed. - Suddenly the idea dawns upon him. He crosses over to table, - sits down, writes._) - -“Both saw news; but the editor went further than the reporter. For -cases of Italians killed by a boiler explosion are so common as to -approach the commonplace; but a freak of explosive chemistry which -annihilates a strong man and does not disturb a baby departs from it -widely.” - -Here again it is clear that Mr. Irwin has merely emphasized one of the -features generally to be found in what we call news, without, however, -offering us a complete or exclusive definition of news. - -Analyzing further within his general rule that news is a departure -from the established order, Mr. Irwin goes on to point out certain -outstanding factors which enhance or create news value. I cite them -here because all of them are unquestionably sound. On the other hand, -analysis shows that some of them are directly contradictory to his main -principle that only the departure from the established order is news. -In Mr. Irwin’s opinion, the four outstanding factors making for the -creation or enhancement of news value are the following:[37] - - 1. “_We prefer to read about the things we like._” The result, - he says, has been the rule: “Power for the men, affections for - the women.” - - 2. “_Our interest in news increases in direct ratio to our - familiarity with its subject, its setting, and its dramatis - personæ._” - - 3. “_Our interest in news is in direct ratio to its effect on - our personal concerns._” - - 4. “_Our interest in news increases in direct ratio to the - general importance of the persons or activities which it - affects._” This is so obvious that it scarcely needs comment. - -Some notion of the diversity of news arising in a city may be obtained -if one studies the points which are watched as news sources, either -continuously or closely by metropolitan dailies. Mr. Given[38] lists -the places in New York which are watched constantly: - - “Police Headquarters. - - Police Courts. - - Coroner’s Office. - - Supreme Courts, New York County. - - New York Stock Exchange. - - City Hall, including the Mayor’s Office, Aldermanic Chamber, - City Clerk’s Office, and Office of the President of Manhattan - Borough. - - County Clerk’s office.” - -Those places, says Mr. Given, which the newspapers watch carefully, but -not continually, are: - - “City Courts (Minor civil cases). - - Court of General Sessions (Criminal cases). - - Court of Special Sessions (Minor criminal cases). - - District Attorney’s Office. - - Doors of Grand Jury rooms when the Grand Jury is in session - (For indictments and presentments). - - Federal Courts. - - Post Office. - - United States Commissioner’s Offices, and Offices of the United - States Secret Service officers. - - United States Marshal’s Office. - - United States District Attorney’s Office. - - Ship News, where incoming and outgoing vessels are reported. - - Barge Office, where immigrants land. - - Surrogate’s Office, where wills are filed and testimony - concerning wills in litigation is heard. - - Political Headquarters during campaigns.” - -Finally, “the following are visited by the reporters several times, or -only once a day: - - “Police Stations. - - Municipal Courts. - - Board of Health Headquarters. - - Fire Department Headquarters. - - Park Department Headquarters. - - Building Department Headquarters. - - Tombs Prison. - - County Jail. - - United States Sub-treasury. - - Office of Collector of the Port. - - United States Appraiser’s Office. - - Public Hospitals. - - Leading Hotels. - - The Morgue. - - County Sheriff’s Office. - - City Comptroller’s Office. - - City Treasurer’s Office. - - Offices of the Tax Collector and Tax Assessors.” - -Mr. Given’s example of the broker, John Smith, illustrates aptly the -point I am making. “For ten years,” said Mr. Given,[39] “he pursues -the even tenor of his way and except for his customers and his friends -no one gives him a thought. To the newspapers he is as if he were not. -But in the eleventh year he suffers heavy losses and, at last, his -resources all gone, summons his lawyer and arranges for the making of -an assignment. The lawyer posts off to the County Clerk’s office, and -a clerk there makes the necessary entries in the office docket. Here -in step the newspapers. While the clerk is writing Smith’s business -obituary, a reporter glances over his shoulder, and a few minutes -later the newspapers know Smith’s troubles and are as well informed -concerning his business status as they would be had they kept a -reporter at his door every day for over ten years. Had Smith dropped -dead instead of merely making an assignment his name would have -reached the newspapers by way of the Coroner’s office instead of the -County Clerk’s office, and in fact, while Smith did not know it, the -newspapers were prepared and ready for him no matter what he did. They -even had representatives waiting for him at the Morgue. He was safe -only when he walked the straight and narrow path and kept quiet.” - -An overt act is often necessary before an event can be regarded as news. - -Commenting on this aspect of the situation, Mr. Lippmann discusses -this very example of the broker, John Smith, and his hypothetical -bankruptcy. “That overt act,” says Mr. Lippmann,[40] “‘uncovers’ the -news about Smith. Whether the news will be followed up or not is -another matter. The point is that before a series of events become news -they have usually to make themselves noticeable in some more or less -overt act. Generally, too, in a crudely overt act. Smith’s friends may -have known for years that he was taking risks, rumors may even have -reached the financial editor if Smith’s friends were talkative. But -apart from the fact that none of this could be published because it -would be libel, there is in these rumors nothing definite on which -to peg a story. Something definite must occur that has unmistakable -form. It may be the act of going into bankruptcy, it may be a fire, -a collision, an assault, a riot, an arrest, a denunciation, the -introduction of a bill, a speech, a vote, a meeting, the expressed -opinion of a well-known citizen, an editorial in a newspaper, a sale, a -wage-schedule, a price change, the proposal to build a bridge.... There -must be a manifestation. The course of events must assume a certain -definable shape, and until it is in a phase where some aspect is an -accomplished fact, news does not separate itself from the ocean of -possible truth.” - -From the point of view of the practical journalist, Mr. Irwin has -applied this observation to the making of the news of the day. He -says:[41] “I state a platitude when I say that government by the people -is the essence of democracy. In theory, the people watch and know; -when, in the process of social and industrial evolution, they see a -new evil becoming important, they found institutions to regulate it -or laws to repress it. They cannot watch without light, know without -teachers. The newspaper, or some force like it, must daily inform them -of things which are shocking and unpleasant in order that democracy, -in its slow, wobbling motion upward, may perceive and correct. It is -good for us to know that John Smith, made crazy by drink, came home and -killed his wife. Startled and shocked, but interested, we may follow -the case of John Smith, see that justice in his case is not delayed by -his pull with Tammany. Perhaps, when there are enough cases of John -Smith, we shall look into the first causes and restrain the groggeries -that made him momentarily mad or the industrial oppression that made -him permanently an undernourished, overnerved defective. It is good to -know that John Jones, a clerk, forged a check and went to jail. For not -only shall we watch justice in his case, but some day we shall watch -also the fraudulent race-track gambling that tempted him to theft. If -every day we read of those crimes which grow from the misery of New -York’s East Side and Chicago’s Levee, some day democracy may get at the -ultimate causes for overwork, underfeeding, tenement crowding. - -“No other method is so forcible with the public as driving home the -instance which points the moral. General description of bad conditions -fails, somehow, to impress the average mind. One might have shouted to -Shreveport day after day that low dives make dangerous negroes, and -created no sentiment against saloons. But when a negro, drunk on bad -gin which he got at such a dive, assaulted and killed Margaret Lear, a -schoolgirl, Shreveport voted out the saloon.” - -For the great mass of activities there is no machinery of record -whatever. How these are to be recorded when they are important is the -real problem for the press. - -In this field the public relations counsel plays a considerable part. -His is the business of calling to the public attention, through the -press and through every other available medium, the point of view, the -movement or the issue which he represents. Mr. Lippmann has observed -that it is for this reason that what he calls the “press agent” has -become an important factor in modern life. - -Mr. Lippmann’s observation on this point deserves comment. He says:[42] -“This is the underlying reason for the existence of the press agent. -The enormous discretion as to what facts and what impressions shall be -reported is steadily convincing every organized group of people that -whether it wishes to secure publicity or to avoid it, the exercise of -discretion cannot be left to the reporter. It is safer to hire a press -agent who stands between the group and the newspapers.” - -The really important function of the public relations counsel, in -relation to the press as well as to his client, lies even beyond these -considerations. He is not merely the purveyor of news; he is more -logically the _creator_ of news. - -An amateur can bring a good story to the average newspaper office and -receive consideration, although the amateur is only too likely to miss -precisely those features of his story which give it news value, and -to overlook precisely that element of the story which will make it -interesting to the particular newspaper he is approaching. - -The New York hotel proprietors were enforcing the prohibition law in -relation to their own establishments, but saw that certain restaurants -were violating the law with impunity. Realizing the injustice to them -of this situation, they built a definite news event by going over the -heads of the local law enforcement offices and wired an appeal direct -to President Harding, asking for enforcement. This naturally became -news of the first order. - -The opening of a shop by prominent women in which were shown graphic -examples of the effect of the tariff on women’s wear was an event -created to intensify interest in this subject. - -The launching of battleships with ceremony; the laying of corner -stones; the presentation of memorials; demonstration meetings, parties -and banquets are all events created with a view to their carrying -capacity in the various mediums that reach the public. - -The departments of a modern newspaper will show the great variety of -possible approaches on any subject from the standpoint of the press. -When this is correlated to the possible approaches on any subject -from the standpoint of human psychology, we see the diversification -of methods to which the public relations counsel can have recourse to -construct events. - -In the metropolitan press, for instance, there are the news -departments, the editorial departments, the letter-to-the-editor -department, the women’s department, the society department, the current -events department, the sport department, the real estate department, -the business department, the financial department, the shipping -department, the investment department, the educational department, -the photographic department and the other special feature writers and -sections, different in different journals. - -In a valuable study on the “Newspaper Reading Habits of Business -Executives and Professional Men in New York” compiled by Professor -George Burton Hotchkiss, Head of the Department of Advertising and -Marketing, and Richard B. Franken, Lecturer in Advertising at New York -University, there are several tables setting forth the features of -morning and evening newspapers preferred as a whole by the group to -whom the questionnaires were sent, and by various smaller groups within -the main group. - -The counsel on public relations not only knows what news value is, but -knowing it, he is in a position to _make news happen_. He is a creator -of events. - -An organization held a banquet for a building fund to which the -invitations were despatched on large bricks. The news element in this -story was the fact that bricks were despatched. - -In this capacity, as purveyor and creator of news for the press as -well as for all other mediums of idea dissemination, it must be clear -immediately that the public relations counsel could not possibly -succeed unless he complied with the highest moral and technical -requirements of those with whom he is working. - -Writing on the profession of the public relations counsel, the author -of an article in the _New York Times_[43] says “newspaper editors are -the most suspicious and cynical of mortals, but they are as quick to -discern the truth as to detect the falsehood.” He goes on to discuss -the particular public relations counsel whom he has in mind and -whom he designates by the fictitious name Swift, and remarks that: -“Irrespective of their position on ethics, Swift & Co. won’t deal -in spurious goods. They know that one such error would be fatal. The -public might forget, but the editor never. Besides, they don’t have to.” - -Truthful and accurate must be the material which the public relations -counsel furnishes to the press and other mediums. In addition, it must -have the elements of timeliness and interest which are required of all -news--and it must not only have these elements in general, but it must -suit the particular needs of each particular newspaper and, even more -than that, it must suit the needs of the particular editor in whose -department it is hoped that it will be published. - -Finally, the literary quality of the material must be up to the best -standards of the profession of journalism. The writing must be good, -in the particular sense in which each newspaper considers a story well -written. - -In brief, the material must come to the editorial desk as carefully -prepared and as accurately verified as if the editor himself had -assigned a special reporter to secure and write the facts. Only by -presenting his news in such form and in such a manner can the counsel -on public relations hope to retain, in the case of the newspaper, the -most valuable thing he possesses--the editor’s faith and trust. But it -must be clearly borne in mind that only in certain cases is the public -relations counsel the intermediary between the news and the press. The -event he has counseled upon, the action he has created finds its own -level of expression in mediums which reach the public. - -The radio stations offer an avenue of approach to the public. They are -controlled by private organizations, large electrical supply companies, -department stores, newspapers, telegraph companies and in some cases by -the government. Their programs broadcast information and entertainment -to those within their radius. These programs vary in different -localities. - -To the public relations counsel there is a wide opportunity to utilize -the means of distribution the radio program affords. In partisan -matters, the controllers of the radio insist upon the presentation of -all points of view in order to have the onus of propaganda removed -from their shoulders. The public relations counsel is therefore in a -position to suggest to the broadcasting managers a symposium treatment -of the subject in which he happens to be interested. Or in the case of -information, which has not this partisan character, he is in a position -to assure treatment of his subject by embodying his thesis in the form -of a speech delivered by some individual of standing and reputation. - -In the case of events which the public relations counsel may be -instrumental in creating, such as large public meetings, the radio -to-day becomes a natural form of distribution, just as news treatment -in a newspaper does, and the broadcasting to thousands and thousands -of people of the speeches becomes a corollary of the event itself. The -broadcasting of Lord Robert Cecil’s speech on the League of Nations, -delivered at a banquet in New York, is a case in point. - -Many magazines, for instance, are availing themselves of the radio -stations to supply speeches on the particular topics they are most -interested in. So the housekeeping magazines supply the radio stations -with information about that phase of women’s activities. The fashion -magazines do likewise in their fields. And they thereby heighten their -own prestige and authority in the minds of their hearers. - -The use of the wireless telegraph in war time was an important factor -in broadcasting information of war aims and war accomplishments -to enemy countries. It was used successfully by both Allied and -Central powers. It was utilized even by the Soviet Government in the -announcement of its communications. This form of propagation differs -slightly from the radio, referred to previously, since it depends for -its efficacy not upon reaching great numbers of hearers, but upon -reaching newspapers and other mediums that give currency to the -material broadcasted. The wireless telegraph of course was and is a -valuable asset to the public relations counsel. - -The lecture platform is another well-established means of idea -communication. - -The spoken word has to a certain extent lost its efficacy when the -lecture platform alone is considered. - -The appeal of the lecture platform is limited by the actual number -of those who hear the message. It is possible to reach vaster -numbers through the printed word or the motion picture or even the -radioed word. Both the weakness of the human voice and the physical -characteristics of the place of assemblage bring about this limitation. - -The lecture platform, however, still retains its importance for the -public relations counsel because it affords him the opportunity to -speak before group audiences which in themselves have a news value, or -because it presents the opportunity to stage dramatic events that bring -intensification of interest and action on the part of larger audiences -than those actually addressed. - -The lecture field open to the public relations counsel for the -propagation of information or ideas may be divided into several -classifications. First there are the lecture managers and bureaus, -which act as agents in booking lecturers to different kinds of group -audiences throughout the country. The public relations counsel can, -for instance, suggest to his client to secure a prominent person, who -because of interest in a cause will be glad to undertake a lecture -tour. Then a bureau may manage the tour. The tours of important -proponents on such issues as the League of Nations fall in this class -as well as the tours of prominent authors, arranged by publishers in -their behalf. - -Then there is the lecture tour managed by the client himself and -arranged through the booking of engagements with such local groups as -might be interested in assuming sponsorship for what is said. A soap -company might engage a lecturer on cleanliness to speak in the schools -of leading communities. Or a woolen firm arrange for a home economics -authority to lecture to women’s clubs on dress. These speeches of -course, locally, gain a wider audience than the speaker would who -addressed a single meeting because they give opportunity for treatment -in newspapers, advertising, circularizing, and other mediums. - -The lecture field offers another means of communication in as much -as it gives the public relations counsel a range of group leaders to -whom he can furnish the facts and ideas he is trying to propagate. The -lecturers of Boards of Education in cities throughout the country, -the lecturers before schools and other institutions of learning, the -lecturers of one sort or another who address varied audiences can be -reached directly and can become the carriers of the information the -public relations counsel desires to give forth. - -The meeting or public demonstration, at which prominent speakers voice -their views upon the particular problem or problems at issue, would -fall quite naturally under this same classification. Its main purpose, -of course, is not so much to reach the audience being addressed as to -make a focal point of interest for those thousands and millions who -do not attend, but who get the reverberations of the speaker’s voice -through other mediums than their own auditory sensation. - -Advertising is a medium open to the public relations counsel. In the -sense in which the word is used here, the term applies to every form of -paid space available for the carrying of a message. From the newspaper -advertisement to the billboard, its forms are so varied that it has -developed its own literature and its own principles and practice. In -considering his objectives and the mediums through which his potential -public can be reached the public relations counsel always considers -advertising space as among his most important adjuncts. The wise public -relations counsel calls into conference on the particular kinds of -advertising to be used in a given problem the advertising agent who -has made this study his lifework. The public relations counsel and the -advertising agent then work out the problem in their respective fields. - -Advertising up to the present time has laid its greatest stress upon -the creation of demands and markets for specific goods. It is also -applied with effectiveness to the propagation of ideas as well. It is -peculiarly effective when used in combination with other methods of -appeal. - -Advertising controls the amount of physical space it occupies before -the public eye. Advertising’s dimensional qualities give it a facile -flexibility that can be extended or limited at will. In a sense, too, -this quality gives the special leader the opportunity to select his -audience and to give them his message directly. - -The field of coöperative advertising by combinations of advertisers in -the same business or profession, by governments or their subdivisions, -for one reason or another, is open to future possibilities. - -The stage offers an avenue of approach to the public which must be -regarded both from the standpoint of the numbers of individuals it -reaches as well as from the circles of influence it creates by word -of mouth and otherwise. To the public relations counsel therefore it -offers a wide field. - -Through coöperation with playwrights or managers, ideas can be given -currency on the stage. When they can be translated to the action that -takes place upon a stage, they are given emphasis by the visual and -auditory presentation. - -The motion picture falls into two fields for the purposes of the public -relations counsel. There is the field of the feature film. Here any -direct utilization of the public relations counsel’s ideas must come -indirectly and be taken by the producer of the film from some of the -other organs of thought communication. The producer may adopt for the -subject of a film some idea which the public relations counsel has -agitated. The film, for instance, dealing with the drug traffic came -very definitely as a result of the work carried on to help relieve the -drug evil. - -The second field is one the public relations counsel can employ more -directly. Educational films are made to order to-day to illustrate -specific points for public consumption, from showing how a product is -made to showing the necessity for subway relief in a big city. These -films are usually shown before a special group audience arranged for -by the public relations counsel or before some other group interested -in the idea the particular film stands for. Thus a Chamber of -Commerce can further a film having to do with the need for better port -facilities. - -One phase of this kind of film is the news reel which, controlled by a -private organization, films events and occasions which may have been -created by the public relations counsel, but which carries because of -its value in the competitive market of events. - -Word of mouth is an important medium to be considered. Ideas and facts -can be given currency by word of mouth. Here group leaders are strong -factors in giving currency to ideas. The public relations counsel often -communicates the ideas he wishes to promulgate to group leaders whose -espousal of the idea he wishes to obtain. - -The direct-by-mail campaign and the printed word afford the public -relations counsel channels of approach to such individuals as he may -desire to reach. Large companies have available for such purposes lists -of individuals arranged according to innumerable criteria. There are -geographical divisions, professional divisions, business divisions, and -divisions of religion. There are classifications by economic position, -classifications by all manner of preferences. This classification of -his public into the right groups for the proper appeals is one of -the most important functions of the public relations counsel, as we -have pointed out. The direct-by-mail method of approach offers wide -opportunities for capitalizing his training and experience along these -lines. Telegraphic and wireless communications would of course come -under this heading. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -HIS OBLIGATIONS TO THE PUBLIC AS A SPECIAL PLEADER - - -It has been the history of new professions--and every profession -has been at some time a new profession--that they are accepted by -the public and become firmly established only after two significant -handicaps are overcome. The first of these, oddly enough, lies in -public opinion itself; it consists of the public’s reluctance to -acknowledge a dependence, however slight, upon the ministrations of -any one group of persons. Medicine, even to-day, is still fighting -this reluctance. The law is fighting it. Yet these are established -professions. - -The second handicap is that any new profession must become established, -not through the efforts and activities of others, who might be -considered impartial, but through its own energy. - -These handicaps are particularly potent in a profession of advocacy, -because it is engaged in the partisan representation of one point of -view. The legal profession is perhaps the most familiar example of this -fact, and in this light at least a trenchant comparison may be drawn -between the bar and the new profession of the public relations counsel. - -Both these professions offer to the public substantially the same -services--expert training, a highly sensitized understanding of the -background from which results must be obtained, a keenly developed -capacity for the analysis of problems into their constituent elements. -Both professions are in constant danger of arousing crowd antagonism, -because they often stand in frank and open opposition to the fixed -point of view of one or another of the many groups which compose -society. Indeed it is this aspect of the work of the public relations -counsel which is undoubtedly the foundation of a good deal of popular -disapproval of his profession. - -Even Mr. Martin, who on several occasions in his volume talks with -severe condemnation of what he calls propaganda, sees and admits the -fundamental psychological factors which make the adherents to one point -of view impute degraded or immoral motives to believers in other points -of view. He says:[44] - -“The crowd-man can, when his fiction is challenged, save himself from -spiritual bankruptcy, preserve his defenses, keep his crowd from going -to pieces, only by a demur. Any one who challenges the crowd’s fictions -must be ruled out of court. He must not be permitted to speak. As -a witness to contrary values, his testimony must be discounted. The -worth of his evidence must be discredited by belittling the disturbing -witness. ‘He is a bad man; the crowd must not listen to him.’ His -motives must be evil; he is ‘bought up’; he is an immoral character; he -tells lies; he is insincere or he ‘has not the courage to take a stand’ -or ‘there is nothing new in what he says.’ - -“Ibsen’s ‘Enemy of the People,’ illustrates this point very well. The -crowd votes that Doctor Stockman may not speak about the baths, the -real point at issue. Indeed, the mayor takes the floor and officially -announces that the doctor’s statement that the water is bad is -‘unreliable and exaggerated.’ Then the president of the Householders’ -Association makes an address accusing the doctor of secretly ‘aiming at -revolution.’ When finally Doctor Stockman speaks and tells his fellow -citizens the real meaning of their conduct, and utters a few plain -truths about ‘the compact majority,’ the crowd saves its face, not by -proving the doctor false, but by howling him down, voting him an ‘enemy -of the people,’ and throwing stones through the window.” - -If we analyze a specific example of the public relations counsel’s -work, we see the workings of the crowd-mind, which have made it so -difficult for his profession to gain popular approval. Let us take, -for example, the tariff situation again. It is manifestly impossible -for either side in the dispute to obtain a totally unbiased point -of view as to the other side. The importer calls the manufacturer -unreasonable; he imputes selfish motives to him. For his own part he -identifies the establishment of the conditions upon which he insists -with such things as social welfare, national safety, Americanism, lower -prices to the consumer, and whatever other fundamentals he can seize -upon. Every newspaper report carrying the flavor of adverse suggestion, -whether on account of its facts or on account of the manner of its -writing, is immediately branded as untrue, unfortunate, ill-advised. It -must, the importer concludes, it must have been inspired by insidious -machinations from the manufacturers’ interests. - -But is the manufacturer any more reasonable? If the newspapers -publish stories unfavorable to his interests, then the newspapers -have been “bought up,” “influenced”; they are “partisan” and many -other unreasonable things. The manufacturer, just like the importer, -identifies his side of the struggle with such fundamental standards -as he can seize upon--a living wage, reduced prices to the consumer, -the American standard of employment, fair play, justice. To each the -contentions of the other are untenable. - -Now, carry this situation one step further to the point at which the -public relations counsel is retained, on behalf of one side or the -other. Observe how sincerely each side and its adherents call even -the verifiable facts and figures of the other by that dread name -“propaganda.” Should the importers submit figures showing that wages -could be raised and the price to the consumer reduced, their adherents -would be gratified that such important educational work should be done -among the public and that the newspapers should be so fair-minded as -to publish it. The manufacturers, on the other hand, will call such -material “propaganda” and blame either the newspaper which publishes -those figures or the economist who compiled them, or the public -relations counsel who advised collating the material. - -The only difference between “propaganda” and “education,” really, is in -the point of view. The advocacy of what we believe in is education. The -advocacy of what we don’t believe in is propaganda. Each of these nouns -carries with it social and moral implications. Education is valuable, -commendable, enlightening, instructive. Propaganda is insidious, -dishonest, underhand, misleading. It is only to-day that the viewpoint -on this question is undergoing a slight change, as the following -editorial would indicate: - -“The relativity of truth,”[45] says Mr. Elmer Davis, “is a commonplace -to any newspaper man, even to one who has never studied epistemology; -and, if the phrase is permissible, truth is rather more relative in -Washington than anywhere else. Now and then it is possible to make a -downright statement; such and such a bill has passed in one of the -houses of Congress, or failed to pass; the administration has issued -this or that statement; the President has approved, or vetoed, a -certain bill. But most of the news that comes out of Washington is -necessarily rather vague, for it depends on the assertions of statesmen -who are reluctant to be quoted by name, or even by description. This -more than anything else is responsible for the sort of fog, the haze -of miasmatic exhalations, which hangs over news with a Washington date -line. News coming out of Washington is apt to represent not what is so -but what might be so under certain contingencies, what may turn out to -be so, what some eminent personage says is so, or even what he wants -the public to believe is so when it is not.” - -Most subjects on which there is a so-called definite public opinion are -much more vague and indefinite, much more complex in their facts and in -their ramifications than the news from Washington which the historian -of the _New York Times_ describes. Consider, for example, what -complicated issues are casually disposed of by the average citizen. -An uninformed lay public may condemn a new medical theory on slight -consideration. Its judgment is hit or miss, as medical history proves. - -Political, economic and moral judgments, as we have seen, are more -often expressions of crowd psychology and herd reaction than the result -of the calm exercise of judgment. It is difficult to believe that this -is not inevitable. Public opinion in a society consisting of millions -of persons, all of whom must somehow or other reach a working basis -with most of the others, is bound to find a level of uniformity founded -on the intelligence of the average member of society as a whole or of -the particular group to which one may belong. There is a different -set of facts on every subject for each man. Society cannot wait to -find absolute truth. It cannot weigh every issue carefully before -making a judgment. The result is that the so-called truths by which -society lives are born of compromise among conflicting desires and -of interpretation by many minds. They are accepted and intolerantly -maintained once they have been determined. In the struggle among ideas, -the only test is the one which Justice Holmes of the Supreme Court -pointed out--the power of thought to get itself accepted in the open -competition of the market. - -The only way for new ideas to gain currency is through the acceptance -of them by groups. Merely individual advocacy will leave the truth -outside the general fund of knowledge and beliefs. The urge toward -suppression of minority or dissentient points of view is counteracted -in part by the work of the public relations counsel. - -The standards of the public relations counsel are his own standards and -he will not accept a client whose standards do not come up to them. -While he is not called upon to judge the merits of his case any more -than a lawyer is called upon to judge his client’s case, nevertheless -he must judge the results which his work would accomplish from an -ethical point of view. - -In law, the judge and jury hold the deciding balance of power. In -public opinion, the public relations counsel is judge and jury because -through his pleading of a case the public is likely to accede to his -opinion and judgment. Therefore, the public relations counsel must -maintain an intense scrutiny of his actions, avoiding the propagation -of unsocial or otherwise harmful movements or ideas. - -Every public relations counsel has been confronted with the necessity -of refusing to accept clients whose cases in a law court would be -valid, but whose cases in the higher court of public opinion are -questionable. - -The social value of the public relations counsel lies in the fact that -he brings to the public facts and ideas of social utility which would -not so readily gain acceptance otherwise. While he, of course, may -represent men and individuals who have already gained great acceptance -in the public mind, he may represent new ideas of value which have not -yet reached their point of largest acceptance or greatest saturation. -That in itself renders him important. - -As for the relations between the public relations counsel and his -client, little can be said which would not be merely a repetition of -that code of decency by which men and women make moral judgments and -live reputable lives. The public relations counsel owes his client -conscientious, effective service, of course. He owes to his client -all the duties which the professions assume in relation to those they -serve. Much more important than any positive duty, however, which the -public relations counsel owes to his client is the negative duty--that -he must never accept a retainer or assume a position which puts his -duty to the groups he represents above his duty to his own standards -of integrity--to the larger society within which he lives and works. - -Europe has given us the most recent important study of public opinion -and its social and historical effects. It is interesting because it -indicates the sweep of the development of an international realization -of what a momentous factor in the world’s life public opinion is -becoming. I feel that this paragraph from a recent work of Professor -Von Ferdinand Tonnies is of particular significance to all who would -feel that the conscious moulding of public opinion is a task embodying -high ideals. - -“The future of public opinion,” says Professor Tonnies, “is the future -of civilization. It is certain that the power of public opinion is -constantly increasing and will keep on increasing. It is equally -certain that it is more and more being influenced, changed, stirred by -impulses from below. The danger which this development contains for a -progressive ennobling of human society and a progressive heightening -of human culture is apparent. The duty of the higher strata of -society--the cultivated, the learned, the expert, the intellectual--is -therefore clear. They must inject moral and spiritual motives into -public opinion. Public opinion must become public conscience.” - -It is in the creation of a public conscience that the counsel on public -relations is destined, I believe, to fulfill his highest usefulness to -the society in which he lives. - - -THE END - - - - -FOOTNOTES - - -[1] Cardozo, “The Nature of the Judicial Process” (page 9). - -[2] Walter Lippmann, “Public Opinion” (page 248). - -[3] “Public Opinion” (page 342). Mr. Lippmann goes on to say that -“having hired him, the temptation to exploit his strategic position is -very great.” As to that aspect of the situation, see later chapters. - -[4] William Trotter, “Instincts of the Herd in Peace and War” (page 36). - -[5] “Instincts of the Herd in Peace and War,” William Trotter (pages -36–37). - -[6] Page 45. - -[7] “Public Opinion” (page 350). - -[8] _Atlantic Monthly_, March, 1914. - -[9] _Atlantic Monthly_, June, 1914. - -[10] Francis E. Leupp, “The Waning Power of the Press,” _Atlantic -Monthly_, July, 1910. - -[11] Rollo Ogden, “Some Aspects of Journalism,” _Atlantic Monthly_, -July, 1906. - -[12] “Publicity at Paris,” _New York Times_, April 2, 1922. - -[13] H. L. Mencken on Journalism, _The Nation_, April 26, 1922. - -[14] “The Behavior of Crowds” (page 193). - -[15] W. Trotter, “Instincts of the Herd in Peace and War.” - -[16] It should be explained at the very outset that Mr. Trotter does -not use the term “herd” in any derogatory sense. He approaches the -entire subject from the point of view of the biologist and compares the -gregarious instinct in man to the same instinct in lower forms of life. - -[17] “Instincts of the Herd in Peace and War” (page 32). - -[18] _Ibid._ - -[19] “Public Opinion” (page 81). - -[20] “Instincts of the Herd in Peace and War” (page 38). - -[21] _Ibid._ (page 112 _et seq._). Italics mine. - -[22] Bleyer, “The Profession of Journalism” (page 269). - -[23] “Public Opinion” (page 354). - -[24] “Public Opinion” (page 292). - -[25] “Instincts of the Herd in Peace and War” (page 62). - -[26] Given, “Making a Newspaper” (pages 306–307). - -[27] “Press Tendencies and Dangers,” _Atlantic Monthly_, January, 1918. - -[28] “The Behavior of Crowds” (pages 23–24). - -[29] Walter Lippmann, “Public Opinion.” - -[30] Mr. Given’s definition of the qualifications of a good reporter -applies very largely to the qualifications of a good public relations -counsel. “There is undoubtedly a good deal of truth,” says Mr. Given, -“in the saying that good reporters are born and not made. A man may -learn how to gather some kinds of news, and he may learn how to write -it correctly, but if he cannot see the picturesque or vital point of an -incident and express what he sees so that others will see as through -his eyes, his productions, even if no particular fault can be found -with them, will not bear the mark of true excellence; and there is, if -one stops to think, a great difference between something that is devoid -of faults and something that is full of good points. The quality which -makes a good newspaper man must, in the opinion of many editors, exist -in the beginning. But when it does exist, it can usually be developed, -no matter how many obstacles are in the way.” - -[31] “Public Opinion” (page 160). - -[32] Given, “Making a Newspaper.” - -[33] “What Is News?” by Will Irwin, _Collier’s_, March 18, 1911 (page -16). - -[34] Italics mine. - -[35] “Making a Newspaper” (page 168). - -[36] “What is News?” Will Irwin, _Collier’s_, March 18, 1911 (page 16). - -[37] “What is News?” by Will Irwin, _Collier’s_, March 18, 1911 (pages -17–18). Italics mine. - -[38] “Making a Newspaper,” by Given (pages 59–62). - -[39] Given, “Making a Newspaper” (page 57). - -[40] “Public Opinion” (pages 339–340). - -[41] “All the News That’s Fit to Print,” _Collier’s_, May 6, 1911 (page -18). - -[42] “Public Opinion” (page 344). - -[43] _Times Book Review and Magazine_, January 1, 1922. “Men Who Wield -the Spotlight,” by Charles J. Rosebault. - -[44] “The Behavior of Crowds” (pages 128–129). - -[45] “History of the _New York Times_” (pages 379–380). - - - - -Transcriber’s Note - - -Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a -predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they -were not changed. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Crystallizing Public Opinion, by Edward L. 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