Was an American pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda along with Ivy Lee, referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations".He felt this manipulation was necessary in society, which he regarded as irrational and dangerous as a result of the 'herd instinct'.
- One of Bernays' favorite techniques for manipulating public opinion was the indirect use of "third party authorities" to plead his clients' causes. "If you can influence the leaders, either with or without their conscious cooperation, you automatically influence the group which they sway", he said
Abstracts of books, articles and
talks by Mr. Bernays deal with
the public relations problems of
industry, education, the social
sciences, labor, government
- The objective for Bernays was to provide government and media outlets with powerful tools for social persuasion and control.
Applying this to public utilities, since government represents the people, the only modification of government attitudes and activities must be through modifying the people's attitudes through the engineering of consent.