Bernays and Lippmann on issues seemingly beyond our control...

The first sentence of Bernays' article "Manipulating Public Opinion: The Why and the How", defines framing as we know it: "Public opinion is subject to a variety of influences that develop and alter its views on nearly every phase of life today (51)." However, he goes on to discuss the idea that societal opinion is actually based more so on tradition than what it is exposed to in present day. "Public opinion is slow and reactionary, and does not easily accept new ideas." He asserts that education and honest propaganda are almost one in the same, with the exception that education is unbiased (or as he puts it-"disinterested") and propaganda is partisan. Even in his description of education and propaganda, he demonstrates framing of his audience--he could have easily used the words unbiased and biased to persuade the audience toward a negative perception of propaganda, yet instead he uses words that support his claim. Sneaky, sneaky Bernays.
He believes the first step in persuading an audience is analysis. This is reflected in Ramage's Rhetoric, in that the persuader must be thoroughly acquainted with the audience and the audience's views before they even attempt to state their argument. What makes the audience react toward the topic in question the way that they do? How can one achieve the same effect of the audience toward his topic in question? How can you make people care about what you have to say?
Thus the next step says Bernays, is deciding how to make the argument most effective. Pinpointing the most effective location, and the most effective venue through which the public can be reached is vital.
The third step is to "surround the conference (his example was the fight against lynching) with people who were stereotypes for ideas that carried weight all over the country (53)." Allow the people to feel as though they can relate to the people to which they are listening.
His entire aim was submerged in the idea that group adherence to an idea you are proposing to the public is key, thus propaganda is also key as the informant of the public so that the group can know what they are adhering to. An aspect of propaganda that he addresses is the use of cliches, which greatly reflects Frank Luntz' work in the "Word Lab" (he works to generate phrases and rhetorical strategies that will be politically effective in gaining the desired aims of political candidates and the like). Make the people think positively of the idea they've associated with negativity, and you're golden.
Unlike Bernays' seemingly persuasive approach, Lippmann, in his essay "The Disenchanted Man", does not hold such an optimistic, picture perfect, formulaic view as does Bernays, as his approach takes a more coercive, wake-up-and-realize-that-this-is-true-dummy approach. His article basically asserts that no matter how much information you throw at an everyday member of the general public, they will continually be driven by their self-interest and that which affects them first hand. Regardless of how honest and extensively informative propaganda may claim to be, "modern society is not visible to anybody, nor intelligible continuously and as a whole One section is visible to another section, one series of acts is intelligible to this group and another to that (39)." He describes the idea that even persuaders themselves can be categorized as self-interested, and rightly so. Nothing would get done if everyone were constantly concerning themselves with the concerns of others and trying to develop an opinion or stance on every novel thought or subject. In essence, let those who are in power run things like they do anyway, and don't bother trying to change things with propaganda. Specific opinions will always be driven by self-interest. If you want to get through to someone, "the genius of any illuminating public discussion is not to obscure and censor private interest, but to help it to sail and to make it sail under its own colors (41)." Trying to persuade the self-interested group to become otherwise is futile; the only way to do it is to create a perfect society in which there are no self-interested groups. This, however, will never be. Thus Lippmann asserts, "No ordinary bystander is equipped to analyze the propaganda by which a private interest seeks to associate itself with the disinterested public (41)".

Hooray for propaganda.