...not indeed at the
great man himself but re the Orwell Prize. Toby Young at the
DT, writes:
"The enemies of press freedom should stop handing out prizes in the name of George Orwell", quite so! In fact the man himself was very clear about
Freedom of the Press. I added my tuppenyworth to the comments quite early on, basically
a bit off topic but [edit] repeating
what I wrote on Iain Dale's blog two or three years ago years ago: that trouble is with blog** awards these days is that they go to MSM "blogs" which IMHO aren't really 'blogs' at all but mini newspaper articles, some with links. There are hundreds of really good 'real' blogs out there in the blogosphere but by redefining the term and moving the goalposts the MSM (including Media Standards Trust and all) keep it comfortably in house. Anyway, I digress; more from Toby:
"[George Orwell's] dislike of high-mindedness, piety, sanctimony, snobbery – all the vices of the Left-wing intelligentsia – is a constant theme running through his work. Anyone familiar with his essays – in particular, his views on press freedom, the “boiled rabbits of the left” and the common people of England – can be in no doubt that he would have summoned all his powers as a journalist to pour vitriol on the panjandrums behind the Hacked Off Campaign. For the Media Standards Trust to give out a journalism prize in his name, given it’s close association with this lobby group, is a disgrace to his memory."
**Like I said, slightly off topic (Orwell Prize is for political writing).
2 comments:
The reason I think that Orwell stands the test of time is that he appeals to both those who are left and right thinking, the problem over the last thirty years or so has been though that the left have actually lost sight of what he actually said rather than what they think he said - much like another of your heroes Enoch Powell.
Agree; I know EP wasn't all great but a giant compared to the dross of today.
Post a Comment