Thursday, June 29, 2006

Brit speaks fluent Newspeak

On Fox News Sunday (June 25, 2006), Brit Hume, managing editor of the Fox News Channel, derided The New York Times’ justification for revealing a Bush administration program that monitors international financial transactions.
Responding to the claim that it is “a matter of public interest,” Hume said, “Well, that can apply to almost anything. … That applies to ball scores. And you know, I mean, women with their breasts exposed are a matter of public interest to some people.”
With more than 35 years of journalism experience to draw from, Hume surely remembers the definition of “public interest” from Journalism 101. Even in the USA, the public interest, however you dumb it down, means the common well-being or general welfare.
In Orwell’s novel 1984, the policy of Newspeak was to remove all shades of meaning from language, leaving simple dichotomies that would reinforce the ruling ideology.
When Hume claims the public interest is whatever the public may show an interest in, he must be aware he’s indulging in Newspeak. But he's not really in the news business. He's an entertainer. And Fox News Sunday is about as reliable as Big Brother — which, oddly enough is a reality show broadcast on CBS.

No comments: