Walter Lippmann
Public Opinion
Free Press, 2010
What's inside?
If forming a democratic consensus is too difficult, a government of experts might be the solution.
Recommendation
The world has become too confusing to understand, and people are bombarded with fake news, trapped by stereotypes and embroiled in partisan politics. Sound familiar? Walter Lippmann made these observations a century ago, before the dominance of radio and television – much less Twitter and Facebook – but after governments had mastered the art of propaganda during World War I. Lippmann favored a democracy led by experts over what he saw as inevitable mob rule. His views may sound elitist to the contemporary reader, but the problems he was trying to solve are familiar, and they are as pressing today as when Public Opinion was written in 1922.
Summary
About the Author
Walter Lippmann (1889–1974) was an American journalist and commentator, media critic, amateur philosopher, speechwriter and political adviser. He is credited with creating the concept of the Cold War and coining the term “stereotype.” Today Lippmann is considered one of the founding fathers of modern journalism and media studies.
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