The Public Opinion Detectors

THIRTY YEARS AGO WALTER LIPPMAN had already noted that the manufacture of consent is capable of great refinements and that a revolution was taking place in the techniques of this manufacture. By now the techniques for creating consent have been so completely “improved,” that the question may seriously be raised: how genuine are the answers any public opinion poll can obtain?

The manipulation of public opinion is obvious enough, but its extent is hardly recognized. It has de...