Orwell Revisited

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In his classic essay "Politics and the English Language," George Orwell described political speech as consisting "largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness." Six decades later, several journalism schools are co-sponsoring a conference titled "There You Go Again: Orwell Comes to America," to examine "the tactics of disinformation and manipulation diagnosed by Orwell ... along with new propaganda techniques made possible by advances in scientific knowledge and modern technology." A book by the same title has also been released, discussing topics from "the use of deceptively murky jargon, to the emotional pull of phrases like "The War on Terror," to the rise of infotainment and pseudo-science, to the disinclination of big media to provide real news."