Tag: free speech
-
Let the bird of paradise speak loud from his cage
Posted:
I want to recite to camera a long poem, originally by John Skelton. And I want to do so from the top of the Tyndale Monument, a tall tower on a hill near Bristol. William Tyndale and Skelton both lived in the reign of Henry VIIIth but they have more than that in common. The…
-
I See Everywhere the False
Posted:
I see everywhere the false, the masked, the sleek and hollow, the bought and the creatured. Their words twist the wind tug at my mind and steal from me the hymns of my life the sacred. True words die the moment they pass between these creatures’ teeth. Humanity is on the…
-
Lout Language as an Abuse of Power
Posted:
This piece was mostly written in the second half of October 2013. The UK Privy Council (quaint relic of a powerful medieval institution, suddenly back on stage) had just turned down a recommendation for a new form of self-regulation put to them by various representatives of the Press, the vast majority of these of a…
-
Freedom of the Press does not mean Free Speech
Posted:
With Leveson now published, and much debate on the subject being reported, I think it is worth pointing out that the Internet is not the only elephant in the room in these discussions. So long as newspapers are owned by super-rich oligarchs, ex-pornographers and the like, and mirror or reflect in any way the views…