I watched Jack Tame on TV One (Sunday 9 November 2025) interview Stephen Rowe, from The US CATO Institute, a visiting American PR non-stop talker who threw the word “freedom” around as if it was prepared and given free with every big Mac hamburger and a fizzy drink. I was angry and shocked at this Trump like figure who got much more airtime than his thin content deserved. But we are a country of “free speech”. So will I shut up? NO!!!!!!
He made think of George Orwell. This PR man is not responsible for promoting any war, but his style of talking could also have been framed in language worthy of Orwell’s analysis on war.
Dick Cheney is dead, but his Iraq War PR language told us that “enhanced interrogation techniques” replaced the word “torture.” “Collateral damage” sanitised the killing of non-combatants. Gaza is still with us and the Netanyahu PR dances crudely on George Orwell. These are strategic choices designed to manage public perception and defuse moral outrage. How would this American PR man view “fake news,” which has been become a catch-all phrase for reporting that is inconvenient or critical. “Freedom ” is often invoked to justify policies to restrict the freedom of others, and “patriotism” is used to brand dissent as treason. This is Orwellian “doublethink”, the ability to hold two contradictory beliefs simultaneously and facilitated by a language drained of stable meaning.
Social media has accelerated, weaponised and rewards brevity and emotional outbursts. It is hostile to the prose that Orwell advocates. Complex issues are reduced to slogans, hashtags, and memes. Discourse is dominated by what Orwell called meaningless words. “Problematic,” “toxic,” “woke,” “racist,” “fascist” are linguistic hammers on debate and opponents. I was angry when I watched this PR man talk with Jack Tame. But he directed my head to re-read George Orwell.
PR is not just about selling hamburgers. It is designed to control our heads too.