Napoleon Hi’s Methods of Creating Public Opinion, 1849–1858

Abstract

During the Second Empire the government felt the press should be used to mold public opinion, and therefore papers and brochures were regarded as tools. In the introduction of new policy, debate often occurred ; hence the government needed authors and journalists to educate the public. Hack writers could be purchased cheaply, but to propagandize effectively, top-flight authors were needed. Since many of these men could not be purchased with money alone, other prizes were dangled before them. In addition to money, these men were offered power and exalted position to enlist their sympathy for imperial goals. High-type journalists were subscribed by these means to the government service: men like La Guéronnière, Boilay, Mirreau, de Bouville, de Montour, Latour-Dumoulin, Collet-Meygret, Petetin, de Cassagnac, and About. By 1867 it became more and more difficult to lure the younger writers to the government fold.¹ The sour Horace de Viel-Castel commented on Louis Napoleon’s preoccupation with writers by sneering at “the new peerage” of the press bought by the emperor.² Since the new and some of the older journalists were a temperamental and unreliable lot, frequently the emperor enjoyed only a temporary alliance with these men: Edmond About, Emile de Girardin, Clément Duvernois. However, others, such as Cassagnac, Vitu, Gireaudeau, and La Guéronnière remained consistently faithful and were well rewarded.