1984

"1984" is a dystopian novel by George Orwell set in a totalitarian society controlled by

the Party, led by Big Brother. The story follows Winston Smith, a Party member who
begins to question the oppressive regime. Thought control is a central theme, depicted
through mechanisms like Newspeak, a language designed to eliminate rebellious
thought, and the Thought Police, who punish dissent. The Thought Police employ
surveillance, censorship, and propaganda to enforce loyalty to the Party. Winston's
journey to resist the Party's thought control and his ultimate submission illustrates the
consequences of a society where independent thought is suppressed, and conformity is
enforced.

Some excerpts from George Orwell's "1984" that illustrate how media controlled public
opinion in the novel:

The Power of Propaganda:

"The Party said that Oceania had never been in alliance with Eurasia. He, Winston Smith,
knew that Oceania had been in alliance with Eurasia as short a time as four years ago.
But where did that knowledge exist? Only in his own consciousness, which in any case
must soon be annihilated."

Manipulation of Information:
"And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same
tale—then the lie passed into history and became the truth."

Rewriting History:
"Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has
been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been
altered."

Newspeak and Thought Control:

"Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the
end, we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible because there will be no words in
which to express it."

Two Minutes Hate:

"The horrible thing about the Two Minutes Hate was not that one was obliged to act a
part, but that it was impossible to avoid joining in. Within thirty seconds, any pretense
was always unnecessary. A hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill,
to torture, to smash faces in with a sledgehammer, seemed to flow through the whole
group of people like an electric current."

These excerpts highlight the use of propaganda, manipulation of information, and the
control of language as tools for manipulating public opinion in the dystopian world of
"1984." The Party in the novel exercises complete authority over the narrative and
rewrites history to maintain its control over the minds of the citizens.

Speech by Edward Murrow

Speech by Edward R. Murrow, a renowned journalist, to the Radio and Television News
Directors Association in 1958. In this speech, he addresses the role and responsibilities
of the media.

Here's an excerpt from Edward R. Murrow's speech:

Introduction:
"This just might do nobody any good. At the end of this discourse, a few people may
accuse this reporter of fouling his own comfortable nest, and your organization may be
accused of having given hospitality to heretical and even dangerous thoughts."

Media's Influence:
"Our history will be what we make it. And if there are any historians about fifty or a
hundred years from now, and there should be preserved the kinescopes for one week of
all three networks, they will there find, recorded in black and white and in color, evidence
of decadence, escapism, and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live."

Responsibilities of Media:
"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that
accusation is not proof, and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of
law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of
unreason if we dig deep in our history and doctrine and remember that we are not
descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate,
and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular."