I spent yesterday at the University of Nottingham starting out on my PR diploma, which if I pass it will allow to become a full member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. It was a fairly intense day of discussion and critical analysis of what has always been to me an entirely practical pursuit- I have no formal PR qualifications or training at all having gained degrees in music and then journalism.

As part of the opening session, we watched a short segment from a TV programme called The Century of the Self, which first aired in 2002 and for reasons of copyright hasn’t seen any further broadcast since then. It is the story of how the theories of Sigmund Freud were taken up by later members of his family, including his daughter Anna Freud and nephew Edward Bernays and used to control the masses in a new way that defined 20th century history.

In particular, Eddie Bernays used the idea that we all have dangerous and primal instincts contained within ourselves than can be exploited to control thinking, break taboos and change behaviour. He became a key member of the American administration in the First World War as the champion of pro-war propaganda and after the war took the very same ideas and launched a new venture, which he called “counsel in public relations“.

It’s all on YouTube and it is really is gripping viewing for anyone interested in how democracy and consumerism has developed during the past 100 years. Matthew Freud, the great-grandson of Sigmund, PR guru and wife of Elisabeth Murdoch, was also involved in the production. Some of the commentary slightly over-states the accepted academic view of the importance some of the featured individuals had – but that only serves to demonstrate what good self-publicists they were!