INVESTIGATING PRESS AGENTS, PROPAGANDA

A "Committee on Pressure Groups and Propaganda" has been organized to investigate research possibilities in the field of political propaganda and advertising campaigns by the Social Science Research Council. Dr. E. P. Herring, instructor in Government, and tutor in the Division of History, Government, and Economics, has been selected as a member of this committee.

The activities of press agents, "public relations counsel," political campaign managers, and advertising executives will be examined with the aim of measuring the influence of such forces on public opinion. "Pressure groups" or lobbies and organizations for the promotion for particular social or legislative programs in which they have a special interest will also be studied. Examples of such groups are the American Legion, the W. C. T. U., trade associations, and labor unions. Dr. Herring will supervise the general survey of research on promotion activities.

Promoters Over-Optimistic.

Favorable public relations with active promoters and lobbyists will be attempted by the committee in order to facilitate the subsequent contacts of other authorized investigators who will conduct research in that field in succeeding years. According to Dr. H. D. Lasswell, of the University of Chicago, chairman of the committee, "one discovers very quickly that the expert practitioners in this field depends on dramatic instance of apparent success in the past for the swift and unsound generalization that promotion activity is of tremendous importance in our society': this is done without paying due regard to the promotion activities which fail of their goal, or which neutralize other promotional activities."