Contenu du sommaire : Enquête en Amérique

Information, Advertising, public relations, propaganda... : An Education ? Informing and selling are two different operations, in a certain traditional way of thinking at any rate. Ch. E. Glachant asks the following question: would these two actions not be the same one in fact, but appearing under two different aspects ? It is not entirely untrue to say, for example, that propaganda "sells" such or such politician, that a newspaper "sells" such or such miscellaneous news item. In return, publicity and public relations, which aim at long term or short term profit, undoubtedly include a certain amount of information. With or without a commercial purpose, the methods are very comparable. Ch. E. Glachant analyses this relationship; it announces a "synthetic" activity which in the future may consist in influencing the public opinion at all levels to the benefit of the most diversified "intentions". Man will communicate with man in a closer and closer way, and education will proceed without a break when man is fullgrown. The various means for such communication - which include publicity - are to become the media of human culture.