comm_presentation2_lippmmann.ppt

7/29/2019 comm_presentation2_lippmmann.ppt

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Who was Walter Lippmann?Team Member:


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Walter Lippmann (September 23, 1889

December 14, 1974) was an American public

intellectual, writer, reporter, and political

commentator famous for being among thefirst to introduce the concept of Cold War; he

coined the term stereotype in the modern

psychological meaning as well.

Lippmann was twice awarded (1958 and 1962)

a Pulitzer Prize for his syndicated newspaper

column, "Today and Tomorrow".

Brief Introduction


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Walter Lippmann was born on September 23,

1889, in New York City, to Jacob and Daisy

Baum Lippmann; his upper-middle class

German Jewish family took annual holidays inEurope. At age 17, he entered Harvard

University where he studied under George

Santayana, William James, and Graham Wallas,

concentrating upon philosophy and languages(he spoke German and French), and earned his

degree in three years, graduating as a member of

the Phi Beta Kappa society.


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Lippmann died on December 14, 1974, at age 85

in New York.

He has been honored by the United States Postal

Service with a 6 Great Americans series postage

stamp.


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What were some of his ideasabout communication in books

such as Public Opinion?


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Public Opnion

Public Opinion, the mostinfluential book ever written byWalter Lippmann. The latejournalist and social critic

provides a fundamental treatiseon the nature of humaninformation and communication.As Michael Curtis indicates inhis introduction to this edition,Public Opinion qualifies as aclassic by virtue of itssystematic brilliance andliterary grace.


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The field of public opinion research hasproduced much since this 1922 classic, but

no work is more compelling in its argument

or lasting in its impact. Lippmann'sconclusions are as meaningful in a world of

television and computers as in the earlier

period when newspapers were dominant.

Public Opinion is of enduring significance for

communications scholars, historians,-

sociologists, and political scientists.


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Main opinions

Government, information, journalists, audiences

1 It was Lippmann who first identified thetendency of journalists to generalize about other

people based on fixed ideas. He argued thatpeopleincluding journalistsare more apt tobelieve "the pictures in their heads" than cometo judgment by critical thinking. Lippmann

believed "the mass of the reading public is notinterested in learning and assimilating theresults of accurate investigation." Citizens, hewrote, were too self-centered to care aboutpublic policy except as pertaining to pressing

local issues.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_thinkinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_thinking


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2 Lippmann saw the purpose of journalism as"intelligence work". Within this role,

journalists are a link between policymakers andthe public. A journalist seeks facts from

policymakers which he then transmits tocitizens who form a public opinion. In thismodel, the information may be used tohold policymakers accountable to citizens.

This theory was spawned by the industrialera and some critics[citation needed]argue the model needs rethinking in post-industrial societies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_(information_gathering)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_(information_gathering)


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3Though a journalist himself, he did not

assume that news and truth are synonymous.

For Lippmann, thefunction of news is to

signalize an event, the function of truth is to

bring to light the hidden facts, to set them in

relation with each other, and make a picture of

reality on which men can act. Ajournalists version of the truth is subjective

and limited to how he constructs his reality.


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4To his mind, democratic ideals had

deteriorated, voters were largely ignorant about

issues and policies, they lacked the competence to

participate in public life and cared little forparticipating in the political process. In PublicOpinion (1922), Lippmann noted that the stabilitythe government achieved during the patronageera of the 19th century was threatened by modernrealities. He wrote that a governing class must

rise to face the new challenges.


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5The basic problem of democracy, he wrote,

was the accuracy of news and protection of

sources. He argued that distorted information

was inherent in the human mind.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protection_of_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protection_of_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protection_of_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protection_of_sources


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6Early on Lippmann said the herd of citizens mustbe governed bya specialized class whose interestsreach beyond the locality." This class is composed ofexperts, specialists and bureaucrats. The experts, whooften are referred to as "elites," were to be amachinery of knowledge that circumvents theprimary defect of democracy, the impossible ideal ofthe "omnicompetent citizen". Later, in The Phantom

Public (1925), he recognized that the class of expertswere also, in most respects, outsiders to any particularproblem, and hence, not capable of effective action.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_Publichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_Publichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_Publichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_Public


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