How corporations learned to mold public opinion
In an interview, climate journalist Amy Westervelt discusses her new book on how corporations have used public relations to influence public understanding and weaken democracy. She traces the field's early figures, including Ivy Ledbetter Lee, who pioneered the press release and promoted corporate-friendly economic ideas, and Edward Bernays, who applied psychological insights to advertising and PR. The conversation also covers how government propaganda efforts during the World Wars contributed to modern PR tactics.
Westervelt, a climate journalist and founder of the Drilled podcast, spent years investigating the public relations industry. Her new book examines how corporate messaging shaped public understanding and democratic institutions.
The interview traces PR's roots: Ivy Ledbetter Lee's press releases and railroad economics bureau, Edward Bernays's psychological advertising, and World War I's Creel Commission, which enlisted journalists and artists to sell the war. Later, Mobil's Herb Schmertz brought political campaign tactics to oil-industry public affairs.
This story may deepen public awareness of how corporate messaging can shape debate over climate policy and other issues. Readers, journalists, and policymakers could become more attentive to undisclosed PR tactics, while companies may face greater scrutiny. The account might also encourage media literacy and transparency, though its impact depends on how widely the book and interview reach audiences and whether institutions act on those concerns.