Orwell Award
Encyclopedia
The NCTE
George Orwell
Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language (the Orwell Award for short), established in 1975 and given by the National Council of Teachers of English
Public Language Awards Committee, recognizes writers who have made outstanding contributions to the critical analysis of public discourse.
National Council of Teachers of English
The National Council of Teachers of English is an American professional organization dedicated to "improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education...
George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language (the Orwell Award for short), established in 1975 and given by the National Council of Teachers of English
National Council of Teachers of English
The National Council of Teachers of English is an American professional organization dedicated to "improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education...
Public Language Awards Committee, recognizes writers who have made outstanding contributions to the critical analysis of public discourse.
Winners
- 2009: Amy GoodmanAmy GoodmanAmy Goodman is an American progressive broadcast journalist, syndicated columnist, investigative reporter and author. Goodman is the host of Democracy Now!, an independent global news program broadcast daily on radio, television and the internet.-Early life:Goodman was born in Bay Shore, New York...
, co-founder, executive producer, and host of Democracy Now!Democracy Now!Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of... - 2008: Charlie SavageCharlie SavageCharlie Savage is a newspaper reporter in Washington, D.C., with the New York Times, which he joined in May 2008. In 2007, when employed by the Boston Globe, he was the recipient of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting on the issue of Presidential Signing Statements, specifically the use...
, author of Takeover: The Return of the Imperial Presidency and the Subversion of American Democracy - 2007: Ted GupTed GupTed Gup , a 1968 graduate of Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio, is a writer noted for being the first to reveal publicly in 1992 the existence of a large underground bunker at West Virginia's famed Greenbrier Resort to house the Congress of the United States in case of a nuclear attack on...
, author of Nation of Secrets: The Threat to Democracy and the American Way of Life - 2006: Steven H. MilesSteven H. MilesSteven H. Miles is an American doctor, author, and professor of medicine who has been widely published on the topic of medical ethics and the ethics of torture....
, M.D, author of Oath Betrayed: Torture, Medical Complicity, and the War on Terror - 2005: Jon StewartJon StewartJon Stewart is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian...
and The Daily ShowThe Daily ShowThe Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
cast - 2004: Investigative journalist Seymour HershSeymour HershSeymour Myron Hersh is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and author based in Washington, D.C. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker magazine on military and security matters...
and Writer Arundhati RoyArundhati RoyArundhati Roy is an Indian novelist. She won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel, The God of Small Things, and has also written two screenplays and several collections of essays... - 2002: Bill PressBill PressWilliam "Bill" Press is a US talk radio host, political commentator and author.-Career:Press has a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Niagara University and Bachelor of Sacred Theology from the University of Fribourg. He started his broadcasting career in Los Angeles for TV stations KABC-TV and...
for Spin This! - 2001: Sheldon RamptonSheldon RamptonSheldon Rampton was the American editor of PR Watch, and is the author of several books that criticize the public relations industry and what he sees as other forms of corporate and government propaganda....
and John StauberJohn StauberJohn Stauber is an American writer and political activist who has co-authored five books about propaganda by governments, private interests and the PR industry...
for Trust Us, We're Experts!Trust Us, We're ExpertsTrust Us, We're Experts: How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with Your Future is a book written by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber....
: How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with Your Future - 2000: Alfie KohnAlfie KohnAlfie Kohn is an American author and lecturer who has explored a number of topics in education, parenting, and human behavior...
for The Schools Our Children Deserve - 1999: Norman SolomonNorman SolomonNorman Solomon is an American journalist, media critic, antiwar activist, and current candidate for the United States House of Representatives. Solomon is a longtime associate of the media watch group Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting...
for The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media: Decoding Spin and Lies in the Mainstream News (published by Common Courage Press, 1999) - 1998: Scott AdamsScott AdamsScott Raymond Adams is the American creator of the Dilbert comic strip and the author of several nonfiction works of satire, commentary, business, and general speculation....
for his role in "Mission Impertinent" (San Jose Mercury News West MagazineSan Jose Mercury News West MagazineSan Jose Mercury News West Magazine, also referred to as West and West Magazine, was a Sunday magazine published by San Jose Mercury News. Jeffrey Klein served as the magazine's editor-in-chief in 1993, and left that year to become editor-in-chief of Mother Jones. He was replaced by Mercury News...
, November 16, 1997;). The farce highlighted the absurdity of managerial language and the overuse of the "mission statement." - 1998: Juliet B. Schor for The Overspent American: Upscaling, Downshifting and the New Consumer
- 1997: Gertrude HimmelfarbGertrude HimmelfarbGertrude Himmelfarb , also known as Bea Kristol, is an American historian. She has written extensively on intellectual history, with a focus on Britain and the Victorian era, as well as on contemporary society and culture....
for "Professor Narcissus: In Today's Academy, Everything Is Personal," June 2, 1997, issue of The Weekly StandardThe Weekly StandardThe Weekly Standard is an American neoconservative opinion magazine published 48 times per year. Its founding publisher, News Corporation, debuted the title September 18, 1995. Currently edited by founder William Kristol and Fred Barnes, the Standard has been described as a "redoubt of... - 1996: William D. Lutz for The New Doublespeak: Why No One Knows What Anyone's Saying Anymore
- 1995: Lies Of Our TimesLies of Our TimesLies of Our Times was published between January 1990 and December 1994. It served not only as a general media critic, but as a watchdog of The New York Times, which the magazine referred to as "the most cited news medium in the U.S., our paper of record."In 1995, Lies of Our Times won the Orwell...
(LOOT) A Magazine to Correct the Record, was published between January 1990 and December 1994. It served not only as a general media critic, but as a watchdog of The New York Times, which the magazine referred to as "the most cited news medium in the U.S., our paper of record." - 1994: Garry TrudeauGarry TrudeauGarretson Beekman "Garry" Trudeau is an American cartoonist, best known for the Doonesbury comic strip.-Background and education:...
, creator of the cartoon strip "DoonesburyDoonesburyDoonesbury is a comic strip by American cartoonist Garry Trudeau, that chronicles the adventures and lives of an array of characters of various ages, professions, and backgrounds, from the President of the United States to the title character, Michael Doonesbury, who has progressed from a college...
" was cited for consistently attacking doublespeak in all aspects of American life and from all parts of the cultural and political spectrum. - 1993: Eric AltermanEric AltermanEric Alterman is an American English teacher, historian, journalist, author, media critic, blogger, and educator. His political weblog named Altercation was hosted by MSNBC.com from 2002 until 2006, moved to Media Matters for America until December 2008, and is now hosted by The...
: Sound and Fury: The Washington Punditocracy and the Collapse of American Politics - 1992: Donald BarlettDonald BarlettDonald L. Barlett is an American investigative journalist and author who collaborated with James B. Steele. According to The Washington Journalism Review they were a better investigative reporting team than even Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Together they have won two Pulitzer Prizes, two...
and James Steele, Philadelphia Inquirer for America: What Went Wrong? - 1991: David Aaron KesslerDavid Aaron KesslerDavid Aaron Kessler is an American pediatrician, lawyer, author, and administrator...
, Commissioner, Federal Food and Drug AdministrationFood and Drug AdministrationThe Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
. "Under the leadership of Commissioner Kessler," said William Lutz, chair of the NCTE Committee on Public Doublespeak, "the FDA has begun seizing products with misleading labels, developing new guidelines for clarity and accuracy in food labels, and exposing false, misleading, and deceptive health claims on food labelsHealth claims on food labelsHealth claims on food labels are claims by manufacturers of food products that their food will reduce the risk of developing a disease or condition...
and in food advertising." - 1990: Charlotte Baecher, Consumers UnionConsumers UnionConsumers Union is a non-profit organization best known as the publisher of Consumer Reports, based in the United States. Its mission is to "test products, inform the public, and protect consumers."...
for Selling America's Kids: Commercial Pressures on Kids of the 90s - 1989: Edward S. HermanEdward S. HermanEdward S. Herman is an American economist and media analyst with a specialty in corporate and regulatory issues as well as political economy and the media. He is Professor Emeritus of Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He also teaches at Annenberg School for...
and Noam ChomskyNoam ChomskyAvram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
for Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media - 1988: Donald BarlettDonald BarlettDonald L. Barlett is an American investigative journalist and author who collaborated with James B. Steele. According to The Washington Journalism Review they were a better investigative reporting team than even Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Together they have won two Pulitzer Prizes, two...
and James B. Steele, Philadelphia Inquirer for a series of articles on the Tax Reform Act of 1986, in which they pointed out language disguising tax loopholes in the legislation - 1987: Noam ChomskyNoam ChomskyAvram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
for On Power and Ideology: The Managua Lectures - 1986: Neil PostmanNeil PostmanNeil Postman was an American author, media theorist and cultural critic, who is best known by the general public for his 1985 book about television, Amusing Ourselves to Death. For more than forty years, he was associated with New York University...
for Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show BusinessAmusing Ourselves to DeathAmusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business is a book by educator Neil Postman.The book's origins lie in a talk Postman gave to the Frankfurt Book Fair in 1984. He was participating in a panel on Orwell's 1984 and the contemporary world... - 1985: Torben Vestergaard and Kim Schroder for The Language of Advertising
- 1984: Ted KoppelTed KoppelEdward James "Ted" Koppel is an English-born American broadcast journalist, best known as the anchor for Nightline from the program's inception in 1980 until his retirement in late 2005. After leaving Nightline, Koppel worked as managing editor for the Discovery Channel before resigning in 2008...
, moderator, Nightline, ABC-TV. ". . . a model of intelligence, informed interest, social awareness, verbal fluency, fair and rigorous questioning of controversial figures. . . . [who has sought] honesty and openness, clarity and coherence, to raise the level of public discourse."--William Lutz, chair, NCTE Committee on Public Doublespeak - 1983: Haig BosmajianHaig BosmajianHaig Aram Bosmajian is an author, lecturer, and professor, who received the 1983 Orwell Award for his book The Language of Oppression . Haig Bosmajian received a PhD in 1960 from Stanford University. His work has explored rhetoric and the freedom of speech...
for The Language of Oppression - 1982: Stephen Hilgartner, Richard C. Bell, and Rory O'ConnorRory O'Connor (filmmaker)Rory O’Connor is a journalist and filmmaker. He is the co-founder of the media firm Globalvision, Inc, and Board Chair of The Global Center.-Career:O'Connor began working in broadcast journalism as a reporter and producer at WGBH-TV in Boston....
for Nukespeak: Nuclear Language, Visions and MindsetNukespeak: Nuclear Language, Visions and MindsetNukespeak: Nuclear Language, Visions and Mindset is a 1982 book by Stephen Hilgartner, Richard C. Bell and Rory O'Connor. This book is a concise history of nuclear weapons and nuclear power in the United States, with special emphasis on the language of the "nuclear mindset".The National Council of... - 1981: Dwight BolingerDwight BolingerDwight Le Merton Bolinger was an American linguist and Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures at Harvard University. He began his career as the first editor of the "Among the New Words" feature for American Speech. As an expert in Spanish, he was elected president of the American...
for Language--The Loaded Weapon - 1980: Sheila Harty for Hucksters in the Classroom: A Review of Industry Propaganda in Schools
- 1979: Erving GoffmanErving GoffmanErving Goffman was a Canadian-born sociologist and writer.The 73rd president of American Sociological Association, Goffman's greatest contribution to social theory is his study of symbolic interaction in the form of dramaturgical perspective that began with his 1959 book The Presentation of Self...
for Gender Advertisements - 1978: Sissela BokSissela BokSissela Bok, born 2 December 1934, is a Swedish-born philosopher and ethicist, the daughter of two Nobel Prize winners: Gunnar Myrdal who won the Economics prize with Friedrich Hayek in 1974, and Alva Myrdal who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1982....
for Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life - 1977: Walter PincusWalter PincusWalter Haskell Pincus is a national security journalist for The Washington Post. He has won several prizes including a Polk Award in 1977, a television Emmy in 1981, the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in association with other Washington Post reporters, and the 2010 Arthur Ross Media...
, Washington Post "A patient, methodical journalist who knew his job and who knew the jargon of Washington. Mr. Pincus was the man responsible for bringing to public attention, and thus to a debate in the Senate, the appropriations funding for the neutron bombNeutron bombA neutron bomb or enhanced radiation weapon or weapon of reinforced radiation is a type of thermonuclear weapon designed specifically to release a large portion of its energy as energetic neutron radiation rather than explosive energy...
."--Hugh Rank, chair, NCTE Committee on Public Doublespeak - 1976: Hugh Rank for the "Intensify/Downplay" schema for analyzing communication, persuasion, and propaganda
- 1975: David Wise for The Politics of Lying