THE POWER OF INTERACTING FORCES THAT GO TO MAKE UP PUBLIC OPINION
The influence of any force which attempts to modify public opinion
depends upon the success with which it is able to enlist established
points of view. A middle ground exists between the hypothesis that
the public is stubborn and the hypothesis that it is malleable. To a
large degree the press, the schools, the churches, motion pictures,
advertising, the lecture platform and radio all conform to the demands
of the public. But to an equally large degree the public responds to
the influence of these very same mediums of communication.
Some analysts believe that the public has no opinions except those
which various institutions provide ready made for it. From Mr. Mencken
and others it would almost seem to follow that newspapers and other
mediums have no standards except those which the public provides, and
that therefore they are substantially without influence upon the public
mind. The truth of the matter, as I have pointed out, lies somewhere
between these two extreme positions.
In other words, the public relations counsel who thinks clearly on
the problem of public opinion and public relations will credit the
two factors of public opinion respectively with their influence and
effectiveness in mutual interaction.
Ray Stannard Baker says[12] that “while there was a gesture of
unconcern, of don’t care what they say, on the part of the leaders (of
the Versailles conference), no aspect of the conference in reality
worried them more than the news, opinions, guesses that went out by
scores of thousands of words every night, and the reactions which
came back so promptly from them. The problem of publicity consumed
an astonishing amount of time, anxiety and discussion among the
leaders of the conference. It influenced the entire procedure, it was
partly instrumental in driving the four heads of States finally into
small secret conferences. The full achievement of publicity on one
occasion--Wilson’s Italian note--nearly broke up the conference and
overturned a government. The bare threat of it, upon other occasions,
changed the course of the discussion. Nothing concerned the conference
more than what democracy was going to do with diplomacy.”
For like causes we find great industries--motion pictures being one and
organized baseball another--appointing as directors of their activities
men prominent in public life, doing this to assure the public of
the honest and social-minded conduct of their members. The Franklin
Roosevelts are in this class, the Will Hayses and the Landises.
A striking example of this interaction is illustrated in what
occurred at the Hague Conference a few years ago. The effect of the
Hague Conference’s conduct upon the public was such that officials
were forced to open the Conference doors to the representatives of
newspapers. On June 16th, 1922, a note came from The Hague by the
Associated Press that Foreign Minister Van Karnebeek of Holland
capitulated to the world’s desire to be informed of what was going
on by admitting correspondents. Early announcement that “the press
cannot be admitted” was, according to the report, followed by anxious
emissaries begging the journalists to have patience. Editorials printed
in Holland pointed out that the best way to insure public coöperation
was to take the public into its confidence. Minister van Karnebeek, who
had been at Washington, was thoroughly awake to the invaluable service
the press of the world rendered there. One editorial here pointed out
that public statements “were used by the diplomats themselves as
a happy means of testing popular opinion upon the various projects
offered in council. How many ‘trial balloons’ were sent up in this
fashion, nobody can recall. Nevertheless each delegation maintained
clipping bureaus, which were brought up to date every morning and which
gave the delegates accurate information as to the state of mind at
home. Thus it came about that world opinion was ready and anxious to
receive the finished work of the conference and that it was prompt to
bring individual recalcitrant groups into line.”
Let me quote from the _New York Evening Post_ of July, 1922, as to the
important interaction of these forces: “The importance of the press
in guiding public opinion and the coöperation between the members of
the press and the men who express public opinion in action, which has
grown up since the Peace Conference at Paris, were stressed by Lionel
Curtis, who arrived on the _Adriatic_ yesterday to attend the Institute
of Politics, which opens on July 27 at Williamstown. ‘Perhaps for the
first time in history,’ he said, ‘the men whose business it is to make
public opinion were collected for some months under the same roof with
the officials whose task in life is the actual conduct of foreign
affairs. In the long run, foreign policy is determined by public
opinion. It was impossible in Paris not to be impressed by the immense
advantage of bringing into close contact the writers who, through the
press, are making public opinion and the men who have to express their
opinion in actual policy.’”
Harvard University, likewise, appreciating the power of public opinion
over its own activities, has recently appointed a counsel on public
relations to make its aims clear to the public.
The institutions which make public opinion conform to the demands of
the public. The public responds to an equally large degree to these
institutions. Such fights as that made by _Collier’s Weekly_ for pure
food control show this.
The Safety First movement, by its use of every form of appeal, from
poster to circular, from lecture to law enforcement, from motion
pictures to “safety weeks,” is bringing about a gradual change in the
attitude of a safety-deserving public towards the taking of unnecessary
risks.
The Rockefeller Foundation, confronted with the serious problem
of the hookworm in the South and in other localities, has brought
about a change in the habits of large sections of rural populations
by analysis, investigation, applied medical principles, and public
education.
The moulder of public opinion must enlist the established point of
view. This is true of the press as well as of other forces. Mr. Mencken
mixes cynicism and truth when he declares that the chief difficulty
confronting a newspaper which tries to carry out independent and
thoughtful policies “does not lie in the direction of the board of
directors, but in the direction of the public which buys the paper.”[13]
The _New York Tribune_, as an example of editorial bravery, points out
in an advertisement published May 23, 1922, that though “news knows no
order in the making” and though “a newspaper must carry the news, both
pleasant and unpleasant,” nevertheless, it is the duty of any newspaper
to realize that there is a possibility of selective action, and that
“in times of stress and bleak despair a newspaper has a hard and fast
duty to perform in keeping up the morale of the community.”
Indeed, the instances are frequent and accessible to the recollection
of any reader in which newspapers have consciously maintained a point
of view toward which the public is either hostile or cold.
Occasionally, of course, even the established point of view is
alterable. The two Baltimore Suns do brave their public and have been
braving their public for some time, not entirely without success.
As severe a critic as Oswald Garrison Villard points out that though
modern Baltimore is a difficult city to serve, yet the two _Suns_ have
courageously and consistently stood for the policies of their editors
and have refused to yield to pressure from any source. To the public
relations counsel this is a striking illustration of the give and take
between the public and the institutions which attempt to mould public
opinion. The two interact upon each other, so that it is sometimes
difficult to tell which is one and which is the other.
The _World_ and the _Evening World_ of New York, pride themselves upon
the following campaigns which are listed in _The World Almanac_ of
1922. They illustrate this interaction.
* * * * *
“_Conference on Limitation of Armament Grew from ‘World’s’ Plea_
“Bearing in mind in 1921 the injunction of its founder, Joseph
Pulitzer, to fight always for progress and reform, and having led the
campaign for disarmament in advance of any other demand therefor, the
_World_ covered the Washington Conference on Limitation of Armament in
a comprehensive way....
* * * * *
“_Measures Advocated by ‘World’ Made Law_
“During the 1921 session of the New York Legislature many measures
advocated by the _World_ were enacted. One of this paper’s chief
achievements was the passage of a resolution broadening the power
of the Lockwood Housing Committee, enabling it to inquire into high
finance as related to the building trades situation.
“The _World_ was instrumental in obtaining the Anti-Theater Ticket
Speculator Law. It also brought about a change in bills to abolish
the Daylight-Saving Law so that municipalities might enact their
own daylight-saving ordinances. It was successful in its campaign
against the search-and-seizure and other drastic features of the State
Prohibition Enforcement Law.
* * * * *
“_The ‘World’ Told Facts About Ku Klux Klan_
“The _World_ on September 6 commenced the publication of a series
of articles telling the truth about the Ku Klux Klan. Twenty-six
newspapers, in widely separated sections of the United States, joined
the _World_ in the publication; some had been invited to participate,
others requested the _World_ to let them use the articles. All these
newspapers realized that the only motive back of the _World’s_
publication was public service. It was their desire to share in this
service, and the _World_ is proud that they asked only assurance of its
traditional accuracy and fairness before they saw their way clear to
coöperation.
“The _World_ is proud that the completed record shows no evidence
either that it was terrified by threats or was goaded by abuse into
departures from its object of presenting the facts honestly and without
exaggeration.
* * * * *
“_Changes in Motor Vehicle Laws_
“As a result of a crusade to lessen automobile fatalities in New
York City and State, the _World_ won a victory when changes in the
motor vehicle laws were made. The paper printed exclusive stories
giving the motor and license numbers of cars stolen daily in this
city, and started a campaign against outlaw taxicabs and financially
irresponsible drivers and owners.
* * * * *
“_‘Evening World’s’ Achievements_
“The _Evening World_ continued its campaign against the coal monopoly
and the high coal prices charged in New York City--a state of affairs
that has been constantly and vigorously exposed in _Evening World_
columns. After consultation with leading Senators at Washington,
several bills were introduced in Congress to alleviate the conditions.”
I am letting the _World_ speak for itself merely as an example of
what many splendid newspapers have accomplished as leaders in public
movements. The _New York Evening Post_ is another example, it having
long led popular demand for vocational guidance and control.
The public relations counsel cannot base his work merely upon the
acceptance of the principle that the public and its authorities
interact. He must go deeper than that and discover why it is that a
public opinion exists independently of church, school, press, lecture
platform and motion picture screen--how far this public opinion affects
these institutions and how far these institutions affect public
opinion. He must discover what the stimuli are to which public opinion
responds most readily.
Study of the mirrors of the public mind--the press, the motion
pictures, the lecture platform and the others--reveal to him what their
standards are and those of the groups they reach. This is not enough,
however. To his understanding of what he actually can measure he must
add a thorough knowledge of the principles which govern individual and
group action. A fundamental study of group and individual psychology is
required before the public relations counsel can determine how readily
individuals or groups will accept modifications of viewpoints or
policies, which they have already imposed upon their respective mediums.
No idea or opinion is an isolated factor. It is surrounded and
influenced by precedent, authority, habit and all the other human
motivations.
For a lucid conception of the functions, power and social utility of
the public relations counsel it is vitally important to have a clear
grasp of the fundamentals with which he must work.