Orwellian Media

George Orwell, the author of 1984 and Animal Farm, wrote that “political speech is largely the defense of the indefensible and consists of euphemisms, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness.” Newspeak was the official language of 1984. It was designed, “to diminish the range of thought.” Today, the media saturate us with terms that would have made Orwell wince. The lexical minefield is littered with collateral damage, detainees, unlawful combatants and terrorism. Saudi Arabia, one of the most repressive countries in the world, is described as moderate.

Keynote Address, World Affairs Conference.

Recorded at the University of Colorado.