ABSTRACT
We gain insight into the lives of others when we know what they read, see and hear. This is one of the chief purposes to be served by any systematic survey of public attention. One general, though far from universal, human attribute is the tendency to overestimate the amount of attention given to the self by other persons. Everything concerning the precious ego is so intimate and immediate that it is difficult to accept a realistic picture of what other people are thinking and feeling about us. We know this is true in our person-to-person relationships. It is equally true when we think of ourselves as Americans in contrast to Germans, British, or Russians. How much attention, for example, is being given to the United States by newspapers abroad, and what do the facts signify?
