Leo Bogart
- October 15, 2005
- 84 years
- babesiosis
About Leo Bogart
Leo Bogart, 84, American sociologist, babesiosis.
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Full Biography
|Leo Bogart (1921 in Poland – October 15, 2005 in New York) was an American sociologist and media and marketing expert.
Biography
According to his obituary in The Independent, Bogart was "Born Jewish ... in Poland in 1921," and "had emigrated with his family to the United States aged two."
Bogart graduated from Brooklyn College in 1941, then became a U.S. Army Intelligence officer in World War II. After the war he engaged himself in the new communications sciences. During the 1960s, Bogart was among the first to analyze the declines in newspapers' readerships, television news viewerships, and radio news listenerships. He criticized the print media industry lack of marketing analysis to stop the trend.
Author of more than a dozen books and hundreds of articles, Bogart was best known for scientific analysis on the editorial content of newspapers, magazines, and television and relating the results to readership and viewership. He wrote a column for Presstime Magazine for many years.
He served as the executive vice president and general manager of the Newspaper Advertising Bureau; taught marketing at New York University, Columbia University and the Illinois Institute of Technology; and was a senior fellow at the Center for Media Studies at Columbia and a Fulbright research fellow in France.
Bogart served as president of the American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) and also the World Association of Public Opinion Research (WAPOR). He was an advocate for journalists to understand the opinion polls better that the media use.
At the time of his death in from babesiosis in 2005, Bogart was a director and senior consultant for Innovation, an international media consulting firm, and wrote a column for Presstime, the magazine of the Newspaper Association of America.
WWII
Bogart entered the army around 1941/42. After a stint in the Army Signal Corps’ enlisted reserve, he was inducted into active duty and assigned to the ASTP (Army Specialized Training Program) after which he was assigned to Signal Intelligence where he was stationed in Europe. In 1946 Bogart was honorably discharged. In 2003, he wrote his memoir "How I Earned the Ruptured Duck: From Brooklyn to Berchtesgaden in World War II."
Controversies
In 1991, Bogart criticized German public opinion research and political advisor Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, who had served as WAPOR president before him.
He made her the center of controversy while she was a visiting professor at the University of Chicago, as he published "The Pollster and the Nazis" in the August 1991 issue of Jewish heritage and cultural magazine Commentary, accusing her of antisemitic passages in her dissertation and articles she wrote for Nazi newspapers.
In fact, when young journalist and sociologist Elisabeth Noelle published her 1940 dissertation "Opinion and mass research in the USA" in Germany, having spent a year at the University of Missouri to research George Gallup's methodology, Goebbels called the 24-year-old woman as an adjutant and intended for her to build up, for the ministry of propaganda, Germany's first public opinion research organization. However, she fell sick and could not accede her new position, angering Goebbels; she later became a newspaper journalist with Nazi publications where she wrote some articles on Jewish influence over U.S. news and elite opinion.
Bogart suggested there is a direct line from Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels to Noelle's theory of the "spiral of silence" and "public opinion as our social skin," which interpreted the group pressure band-wagon effect and the domination of leading mass media over public opinion. The accused wrote a letter of apology to the magazine, explaining that the passages served alibi functions under the dictatorship and were not meant to be harmful.
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Articles & News
- "Leo Bogart, 84, Sociologist Who Studied Role of Media in Culture, Is Dead"nytimes.com
- "Leo Bogart: Sociologist and pollster."independent.co.uk
Reported coverage of Leo Bogart; each link opens the original article on the publisher's own site.
Books & Media
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Sources
- Wikipedia
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Bogart
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Sep 26, 2026
- View article
- Sep 26, 2026
Trivia & Knowledge· 16 questions
Questions drawn from Leo Bogart's archived record and the sources above.
1.In what country was Leo Bogart born in 1921?
- A.Germany
- B.United States
- C.Polandcorrect
- D.France
Leo Bogart was born in Poland in 1921.
Source: Biography section
2.At what age did Leo Bogart emigrate to the United States?
- A.Twelve
- B.Twocorrect
- C.Five
- D.Ten
Leo Bogart emigrated with his family to the United States aged two.
Source: Biography section
3.From which institution did Leo Bogart graduate in 1941?
- A.Columbia University
- B.New York University
- C.University of Chicago
- D.Brooklyn Collegecorrect
Leo Bogart graduated from Brooklyn College in 1941.
Source: Biography section
4.What military branch did Leo Bogart serve in during World War II?
- A.U.S. Marines
- B.U.S. Air Force
- C.U.S. Armycorrect
- D.U.S. Navy
Leo Bogart became a U.S. Army Intelligence officer in World War II.
Source: Biography section
5.What was the specific cause of Leo Bogart's death in 2005?
- A.Babesiosiscorrect
- B.Heart failure
- C.Cancer
- D.Pneumonia
Leo Bogart died from babesiosis in 2005.
Source: Biography section
6.What was the title of the memoir Leo Bogart published in 2003?
- A.Opinion and Mass Research
- B.Silent Politics
- C.How I Earned the Ruptured Duckcorrect
- D.The Pollster and the Nazis
In 2003, Leo Bogart wrote his memoir How I Earned the Ruptured Duck: From Brooklyn to Berchtesgaden in World War II.
Source: WWII section
7.Which organization did Leo Bogart serve as executive vice president and general manager?
- A.Newspaper Association of America
- B.Center for Media Studies
- C.Newspaper Advertising Bureaucorrect
- D.American Association of Public Opinion Research
Leo Bogart served as the executive vice president and general manager of the Newspaper Advertising Bureau.
Source: Biography section
8.What magazine did Leo Bogart write a column for over many years?
- A.Commentary
- B.Presstime Magazinecorrect
- C.The Independent
- D.New York Times
Leo Bogart wrote a column for Presstime Magazine for many years.
Source: Biography section
9.In which country did Leo Bogart serve as a Fulbright research fellow?
- A.Poland
- B.Germany
- C.United States
- D.Francecorrect
Leo Bogart was a Fulbright research fellow in France.
Source: Biography section
10.What academic subject did Leo Bogart teach at Columbia University?
- A.Marketingcorrect
- B.Journalism
- C.History
- D.Sociology
Leo Bogart taught marketing at New York University, Columbia University and the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Source: Biography section
11.In what year was Leo Bogart honorably discharged from the army?
- A.1950
- B.1946correct
- C.1941
- D.1945
In 1946 Leo Bogart was honorably discharged.
Source: WWII section
12.Whom did Leo Bogart accuse of antisemitism in an article for Commentary magazine?
- A.George Gallup
- B.A colleague at the Newspaper Advertising Bureau
- C.Joseph Goebbels
- D.Elisabeth Noelle-Neumanncorrect
Leo Bogart published The Pollster and the Nazis in 1991, accusing Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann of antisemitic passages.
Source: Controversies section
13.What was the title of the book Leo Bogart published in 1972?
- A.Opinion and Mass Research
- B.Silent Politicscorrect
- C.How I Earned the Ruptured Duck
- D.The Pollster and the Nazis
Leo Bogart authored the book Silent Politics: Polls and the Awareness of Public Opinion in 1972.
Source: Bibliography section
14.Which professional association did Leo Bogart serve as president?
- A.International Consulting Association
- B.Newspaper Association of America
- C.World Association of Public Opinion Researchcorrect
- D.New York Media Guild
Leo Bogart served as president of the World Association of Public Opinion Research (WAPOR).
Source: Biography section
15.Where was Leo Bogart stationed during his time in Signal Intelligence?
- A.Africa
- B.Asia
- C.North America
- D.Europecorrect
Leo Bogart was assigned to Signal Intelligence where he was stationed in Europe.
Source: WWII section
16.At the time of his death, what role did Leo Bogart hold at the firm Innovation?
- A.Editor-in-chief
- B.Director and senior consultantcorrect
- C.Research Associate
- D.Chief Executive Officer
At the time of his death, Leo Bogart was a director and senior consultant for Innovation.
Source: Biography section
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