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September 03, 2010
Public relations
Edward Bernays, the American nephew of Sigmund Freud, is said to have invented modern propaganda.
During the first world war, he was one of a group of influential liberals who mounted a secret government campaign to persuade reluctant Americans to send an army to the bloodbath in Europe. In his book, Propaganda, published in 1928, Bernays wrote that the “intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses was an important element in democratic society” and that the manipulators “constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power in our country.”
Instead of propaganda, he coined the euphemism... public relations.
Update: From slightly wobbly documentary by Adam Curtis and the BBC, "The Century of the Self".
Posted by Ghost of a flea at September 3, 2010 08:54 AM