Crystallizing Public Opinion [Paperback]

Edward L. Bernays (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1961

1923. Bernays, regarded by many as the father of public relations, has tried to set down in this book the broad principles that govern the new profession of public relations counsel. Contents: Part I-Scope and Functions: The Scope of the Public Relations Counsel; The Public Relations Counsel; the Increased and Increasing Importance of the Profession; and The Function of a Special Pleader. Part II-The Group and the Herd: What Constitutes Public Opinion?; Is Public Opinion Stubborn or Malleable; The Interaction of Public Opinion with the Forces that Help Make It; The Power of Interacting Forces that Go to Make Up Public Opinion; An Understanding of the Fundamentals of Public Motivation is Necessary to the Work of the Public Relations Counsel; The Group and Herd are the Basic Mechanisms of Public Change; and The Application of These Principles. Part III-Technique and Method: The Public Can Be Reached Only Through Established Mediums of Communication; 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; and An Outline of Methods Practicable in Modifying the Point of View of a Group. Part IV-Ethical Relations: A Consideration of the Press and Other Mediums of Communication in Their Relation to the Public Relations Counsel; and His Obligations to the Public as a Special Pleader. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Liveright (June 1961)
• ISBN-10: 0871409755
• ISBN-13: 978-0871409751
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,617,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Elements of PR, September 4, 2011

By 

J. Ernst - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Crystallizing Public Opinion (Paperback)

For those who appreciate Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, Edward Bernays' 'Crystallizing Public Opinion' will have a similar impact: Concise Guidance and lucid - if due to the original publication in 1923 - somewhat dated examples make for encompassing reading. It is fascinating that most of the literature on PR which has appeared since does not surpass the insights Bernays expounded so long ago.

Bernays thinking has two pillars. First, he recognizes that "the public, ...due to the spread of literacy and democratic forms of government (feels) that it is entitled to its voice in the conduct of these large aggregations, political, capitalist, or labor, or whatever they may be" (p.66). Therefore, any organization in society, no matter if it is a political entity, a company or a non-profit organization is looked at as some sort of public service. To succeed they will have to recognize this demand and communicate, accordingly.

Second, Bernays regards the "average citizen (as) the world's most efficient censor. His own mind is the greatest barrier between him and the facts. His own 'logical 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" (p. 133).

This leads him to conclude that PR is of no use unless it has something to say which the public, consciously or unconsciously, expects to hear. PR is thus not primarily about authenticity or believability, as many current observers put it, PR is merely a communications effort which functions as a catalyst of change if it resonates with the public. As such PR may bring order to what is otherwise be conceived as chaos.

Bernays sorts through and distills the pertinent literature of his age. Amongst them Instincts of the Herd in Peace and War: By W. Trotter, Walter Lippmann's Public Opinion and the unmentioned Gustave Le Bon's The Crowd, especially, are as compelling today as they were to Edward Bernays in 1923.

This book is a key to PR, specifically, and, generally, the role of communications in modern society. As public opinion explodes in the age of the internet and currently causes change in the real world such as in Northern Africa and the Middle East, Bernays' book helps us to understand what is happening. Read it as an introduction or read it as a reference to everything you know about PR, either way it will be time well spent.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An essential book for anyone who wants to understand the impact of the media on public opinion., December 30, 2011

By 

Travis T. Anderson (Waco, Texas) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Crystallizing Public Opinion (Paperback)

Edward Bernays' greatest work-Crystallizing Public Opinion was a book I waited a long time to be able to read, and I regret not a moment of that wait. A must read for anyone who wants to understand how ideas are spread, why they are spread, and why ideas-for better or worse, thrive or die out. What seemed at first like an added bonus turned out to be fundamental to his method-an explanation of the creation of and necessity of stereotypes in a world that is only getting more complex. He seemed to speak of things decades ahead of his time, which could only stare with a dropped jaw at the complexity we see today. Bernays accounted for this increasing complexity and this becomes very evident the more and more you read this book.

However, a flaw of Bernays' character is his arrogance, which will show in his subtle, but frequent self-elevation via his achievements up to that point. It is important to recognize that Bernays did not come from an average Joe type of background-and his view of you and I is perhaps not as flattering as we would like it to be. Despite this, "Crystallizing Public Opinion" is a book that you must read, if only to see how average Joes are really viewed by those in power. The answer may surprise you.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In Good Condition, January 20, 2012

By 

Carlos Manzano "apple tree" (NY, NY) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Crystallizing Public Opinion (Paperback)

The book arrived on time and it was in good condition. I did not like, however, the fact that UPS was lazy to leave the book in the lobby as opposed to knocking on my door and delivering it in person as it should be.