Trust Us, We're Experts!: How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with Your Future - Softcover

Sheldon Rampton; John Stauber

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1585421391 ISBN 13: 9781585421398

Publisher: Jeremy P Tarcher, 2002

Synopsis

The book that unmasks the sneaky and widespread methods industry uses to influence opinion through bogus experts, doctored data, and manufactured facts.

"Finally a long-overdue exposé of the shenanigans and subterfuge that lie behind the making of experts in America." (Jeremy Rifkin)

"If you want to know how the world wags, and who's wagging it, here's your answer." (Bill Moyers)

"Meticulously researched . . . Rampton and Stauber's documentation of PR campaigns proves that they are the real 'experts.' " (Brill's Content) AUTHOBIO: John Stauber is the founder and director of the Center for Media & Democracy. He and Sheldon Rampton write and edit the quarterly PR Watch: Public Interest Reporting on the PR/Public Affairs Industry.

About this title

About the Author

Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber are the bestselling authors of Weapons of Mass Deception, Toxic Sludge Is Good for You!, Banana Republicans, and Trust Us, We're Experts! Stauber is the founder and director of the Center for Media & Democracy. He and Rampton write and edit the quarterly PR Watch.
Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber are the bestselling authors of Weapons of Mass Deception, Toxic Sludge Is Good for You!, Banana Republicans, and Trust Us, We're Experts! Stauber is the founder and director of the Center for Media & Democracy. He and Rampton write and edit the quarterly PR Watch.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Spin 101

"The industry must be like the psychiatrist: rationally figuring out how it can help the public put things in perspective, but knowing that dialogue can only begin with the trust on the public's side that says these people are taking my concerns seriously." (Quote from public relations executive James Lindheim in a speech to the British Society of Chemical Industry, pg. 8)

"Put your words in someone else's mouth." (Quote from public relations executive Merrill Rose, pg. 22)

"The best PR ends up looking like news. You never know when a PR agency is being effective; you'll just find your views slowly shifting." (Quote from a public relations executive, pg. 23)

"Just as the invention of language made lying possible, the invention of mass media created newer, more sophisticated, subtle and elaborate techniques of propaganda." (pg. 24)

"Leaders offer the propagandist a means of reaching vast numbers of individuals, for with so many confusing and conflicting ideas competing for the individual's attention, he is forced to look to others for authority." (Quote from "father of public relations" Edward Bernays, pg. 23)

"Spin cannot be a demonstrable lie." (pg. 72)

"Never lie to a reporter." (pg. 72)

"Marketing is a battle of perception, not products. Truth has no bearing on the issue." (Quote by advertising executive Jack Trout, pg. 72)

"The minute you begin to view the public as something that doesn't operate rationally, your job as a publicist or journalist changes. The pivotal moment was when those who provided the public with its intelligence no longer believed the public had any intelligence." (Quote by public relations historian Stuart Ewen, pg. 72)

"A public relations expert needs to speak sweetly and carry a big stick." (pg. 81)

Edition details

• Publisher: Jeremy P Tarcher
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1585421391
• ISBN 13: 9781585421398
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 360