Directions: Use the themes, questions and video clips below to teach and learn with portions of C-SPAN's American Writers program featuring Walter Lippmann, and Public Opinion. Link to the complete video clip list to identify clip descriptions and create your own lessons. Each theme contains questions and video clips appropriate for varying grade levels. Lesson Credit:
Curriculum Advisory Team Member, Don Leibold.

1. What kind of relationship did Lippmann have with any given U.S. President?
2. When did Lippmann have the most influence? What kinds of things were happening in the U.S. and in the world at that time?
3. Describe the impact of Lippmann's column, "Today and Tomorrow."
4. Why was Lippmann often a lightning rod for controversy? What's the difference between "influence" and "elitism"?
5. Does any modern journalist have the impact that Benjamin Bradlee, Ronald Steel and many others attribute to Walter Lippmann?

1. Winston Churchill once said a democracy was the worst form of government, superior only to all other alternatives. What did Lippmann feel was necessary for a successful democracy?
2. According to Lippmann, how does one get elected to public office?
3. What is the role of the journalist in a democracy?
4. How does modern media technology influence public opinion?
5. How did Lippmann's job as a World War I propagandist influence his career as a journalist?

1. Lippmann was known as an internationalist. What is internationalism? Briefly describe some of the key institutions, events or theories upon which Lippmann applied his internationalist beliefs.
2. Should the U.S. intervene in foreign matters? Using examples from Lippmann's own opinions, what are the advantages and disadvantages of an isolationist stance? of an internationalist stance?
3. What status did foreign news have before Lippmann? What status does foreign affairs new have today?
4. To what degree should columnists be involved in influencing public opinion regarding foreign policy? How would Lippmann answer that question? Is the columnist's role in covering domestic issues different than that of the columnist observing foreign affairs?
5. What do you think Lippmann would have to say about the United States' role in foreign affairs post-September 11?