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THE HIGH PRIEST OF HYPE
THE FATHER OF SPIN Given the press scandals of late--from the Monica travesties to the CNN/Time nerve-gas misfire--it might seem hard to refute that sentiment. But the fact is, for journalists, truthfulness remains the objective, even if it's not always attained. In PR, truthfulness is rarely even on the radar screen as a value, except perhaps as a convenient option or legal consideration. Hence the deep distrust between these professions that are, lamentably, joined at the hip. This tension informs and occasionally undermines Boston Globe reporter Larry Tye's biography of Edward L. Bernays, The Father of Spin. Bernays, who died three years ago at 103, was a phenomenon who not only pulled off feats of PR legerdemain for more than a half-century but who also wrote the book on PR theory and practice. One of the problems with The Father of Spin is that the author can't help but admire Bernays' achievements--but in his quest for objectivity, Tye seems compelled to focus relentlessly on whether the accomplishments were real or merely hype. The effect is dizzying. Bernays may well have been a hypocrite and self-aggrandizer, as Tye proves repeatedly, and it's important--though hardly a shock--to learn that. But readers are probably equally interested in seeing the man and his world come alive. Disappointingly, though Tye culled many anecdotes from Bernays' voluminous private papers, he doesn't synthesize them sufficiently to make that happen. The book's organization creates problems from the start. Tye doesn't recount Bernays' background until midway through. The information would have enriched the business stories of the book's first half. Similarly, Bernays' relationship with his uncle Sigmund Freud isn't described until even later, though Freud was clearly an inspiration. One contemporary observed that while Freud ''is interested in releasing the pent-up libido of the individual, his American nephew is engaged in releasing (and directing) the suppressed desires of the crowd.'' Bernays wrote about the malleability of people in large groups, the herd instinct that causes them to follow so-called opinion leaders, and how to create a consensus by analyzing how people think and then manipulating the symbols that inspire them. Always practical, Bernays developed an arsenal of stratagems: flooding the media with an array of experts and opinion leaders, creating pseudo-trade associations to disseminate information favorable to a behind-the-scenes client, marrying PR campaigns to the purported public good, and staging ersatz news events. His method was to pinpoint as many constituencies as possible and work on each until he achieved the desired effect. Tye relates, for example, how in 1928 American Tobacco Co. asked Bernays to help expand its customer base to women. Rather than promote the qualities of the brand, Bernays sought to alter the image of smoking in women's minds. He staged his own Easter Parade along New York's Fifth Avenue, with 10 socialites smoking what Bernays liked to call ''torches of freedom.'' He enlisted a reputable doctor to testify that smoking was healthy, persuaded hotel restaurants to put cigarettes on the menu alongside desserts, recruited a willing editor from House & Garden to create menus suggesting cigarettes instead of dessert, and even persuaded dance instructor Arthur Murray to say that women should smoke rather than overeat and embarrass themselves on the dance floor. These anecdotes are fun, but they tease rather than instruct--for exactly how Bernays managed much of this is left to our imaginations. Tye too frequently presents Bernays' handiwork as a fait accompli. I wondered which hotel restaurants complied, how many there were, and why they went along. Did Bernays pay them? And why only hotel restaurants? Tye's research seems haphazard--and to borrow from an old joke, the portions are too small. Tye tries hard to take an objective measure of the self-promoting Bernays. But wearyingly, he indulges in a number of ''on the one hand, on the other hand'' arguments that beg for tighter editing and a firmer authorial voice. In the last chapter, for example--archly titled ''A Question of Paternity''--Tye attempts to assess whether Bernays can legitimately be called the ''father of PR.'' The author's rapid-fire production of quotes on the issue from at least 45 sources displays an ability to search databases but no willingness to distill the data. Not having synthesized what he has found, he can't be properly critical. As a reader, I want to understand the issues, but I also want an authoritative voice resolving them in a credible way. In his preface, Tye writes that he wants to use ''Bernays' life as a prism to understand the evolution of the craft of public relations and how it came to play such a critical--and sometimes insidious--role in American life.'' Tye's intentions are on target. He mentions that he was given a year's leave for writing and research. If he'd had more time--enough, that is, to think things through--maybe he could have met his goals.
BY MARILYN HARRIS
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Updated Aug. 6, 1998 by bwwebmaster
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