“Boiler room” organizations, hired by special interests, will seek to manufacture and mobilize “grassroots” opinion and stimulate the outpouring of selected messages and votes – to make sure that particular viewpoints are heard. They do that now. In the next century, it will become a mainstream business. Computerized political advertising, promotion, and marketing campaigns, targeted with as much intensity as legislators, regulators, and public officials are lobbied today, because public opinion – the fourth branch of government – will play an even more pivotal role in major government decisions.
Predictor: Grossman, Lawrence K.
Prediction, in context:In his 1995 book “The Electronic Republic: Reshaping Democracy in the Information Age,” Lawrence Grossman, former president of NBC News and PBS, writes:”‘Boiler room’ organizations, hired by special interests, will seek to manufacture and mobilize ‘grassroots’ opinion and stimulate the outpouring of selected messages and votes — to make sure that particular viewpoints are heard. They do that now. In the next century, it will become a mainstream business. Computerized political advertising, promotion, and marketing campaigns, targeted with as much intensity as legislators, regulators, and public officials are lobbied today, because public opinion — the fourth branch of government — will play an even more pivotal role in major government decisions.”
Biography:Lawrence Grossman wrote the book “The Electronic Republic: Reshaping Democracy in an Information Age” (Penguin, 1995). The former executive at NBC and PBS urged people to realize that digital communications had altered how things can and should be done. (Author/Editor/Journalist.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Getting, Sharing Information
Subtopic: General
Name of publication: The Electronic Republic (book)
Title, headline, chapter name: Chapter 7: The Shape of the Electronic Republic: The Citizens, the Congress, the Presidency, and the Judiciary
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 150
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Guarino, Jennifer Anne