On freedom, journalism and democracy: talking with Lippmann

Sobre libertad, periodismo y democracia: dialogando con Lippmann

In the early twentieth century a figure emerges in the governmental sphere of North America that reconfigures the way in which propaganda is done as a political strategy, ensuring that the important thing in power relations is not the symbols, but the meaning of them in the strategy. This visionary of politi- cal and strategic communication is Walter Lippman (1889-1974), an American journalist and philosopher who informally advised four US presidents in the management of their international relations, especially during the First World War and the Vietnam War. This article is about one of the premises of Lippman, who did not equate news with truth and established substantial differences between the two concepts, warning that not all information disclosed is true and that the news approach starts from the subjectivity of the author, which implies consequences for democracy, freedom and the media.