comm_presentation2_lippmmann.ppt
TRANSCRIPT
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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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