--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Is the English press honest or dishonest?…" description: "\"Is the English press honest or dishonest? At normal times it is deeply dishonest. All the papers that matter live off their advertisements, and the adv..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/820/george-orwell-57_advertisements_is-the-english-press-honest-or-dishonest_2496412.jpg" --- # Is the English press honest or dishonest? At normal times… ![“Is the English press honest or dishonest? At normal times it is deeply dishonest. All the papers that matter live off their advertisements, and the advertisers exercise an indirect censorship over news. Yet I do not suppose there is one paper in England that can be straightforwardly bribed with…” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/820/george-orwell-57_advertisements_is-the-english-press-honest-or-dishonest_2496412.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/820/george-orwell-57_advertisements_is-the-english-press-honest-or-dishonest_2496412.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/820/george-orwell-57_advertisements_is-the-english-press-honest-or-dishonest_2496412.jpg) > “Is the English press honest or dishonest? At normal times it is deeply dishonest. All the papers that matter live off their advertisements, and the advertisers exercise an indirect censorship over news. Yet I do not suppose there is one paper in England that can be straightforwardly bribed with hard cash. In the France of the Third Republic all but a very few of the newspapers could notoriously be bought over the counter like so many pounds of cheese.” [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Orwell argues that the English press is fundamentally driven by advertisers, making it largely dishonest, though not easily bought with cash. **In simple terms:** The press is biased by ads, not outright bribed. Key Takeaway Recognize media bias and seek diverse sources. Themes media politics ethics advertising Mood critical skeptical inquisitive Type analytical informative reflective When to use this quote - reading news - researching topics - critical discussion - media literacy Key Concepts propaganda commercial pressure journalistic integrity Questions to Reflect On - What modern forces shape news bias? - How can readers verify truth? A Different Perspective The claim may be dated; modern media dynamics differ. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Censorship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/censorship/) [England](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/england/) [Exercise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exercise/) [France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/france/) [Honest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honest/) [Journalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journalism/) [News](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/news/) [Newspapers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/newspapers/) [Republic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/republic/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [All the papers that matter live off their advertisements, and the advertisers exercise an indirect censorship over news.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/all-the-papers-that-matter-live-off-their-advertisements-and-the/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [All I try to do in the press is be honest about something that I really care about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-stewart/all-i-try-to-do-in-the-press-is-be-honest-about-something-that-i/) [Kristen Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-stewart/) > [The English press, are so nosy, and the English seem to love that eavesdropping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hutchence/the-english-press-are-so-nosy-and-the-english-seem-to-love-that/) [Michael Hutchence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hutchence/) > [I don't take the English press seriously at all because all they want is dirt... I hate them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-jones/i-don-t-take-the-english-press-seriously-at-all-because-all-they-want/) [Grace Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-jones/) > [There isn't what my father called the cruising hostility of the English press - where they're looking around for something to attack. You don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/there-isn-t-what-my-father-called-the-cruising-hostility-of-the/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [The one thing I can tell you is that I can't stand the English press, who cause me enormous problems on a personal level.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-anelka/the-one-thing-i-can-tell-you-is-that-i-can-t-stand-the-english-press/) [Nicolas Anelka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-anelka/) > [The English press treated the world premiere of my first talking picture as a major event.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-swanson/the-english-press-treated-the-world-premiere-of-my-first-talking/) [Gloria Swanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-swanson/) > [There are many definite methods, honest and dishonest, which make people rich; the only instinct I know of which does it is that instinct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/there-are-many-definite-methods-honest-and-dishonest-which-make/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [But I think doctors have always been either honest or dishonest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-baskin/but-i-think-doctors-have-always-been-either-honest-or-dishonest/) [Leonard Baskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-baskin/) > [I would say that today, dishonesty is the rule, and honesty the exception. It could be, statistically, that more people are honest than dishonest,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-zappa/i-would-say-that-today-dishonesty-is-the-rule-and-honesty-the/) [Frank Zappa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-zappa/) > [I think what's important is for us to decipher what is honest and what is dishonest and be accepting of those things and not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-gaga/i-think-what-s-important-is-for-us-to-decipher-what-is-honest-and/) [Lady Gaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-gaga/) > [You're always learning about yourself, if you're honest with yourself. It's very tough to be honest with yourself. We all are dishonest with ourselves,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoff-johns/you-re-always-learning-about-yourself-if-you-re-honest-with-yourself/) [Geoff Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoff-johns/) > [I don't say I'm honest, dishonest people say that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-don-t-say-i-m-honest-dishonest-people-say-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If we are honest with honest people, it will work out well; if we are honest with dishonest people, it will not work out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-sivakumar-gowder/if-we-are-honest-with-honest-people-it-will-work-out-well-if-we-are/) [Dr Sivakumar Gowder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-sivakumar-gowder/) > [“Nobody is either honest or dishonest. Life is a gradient, and a saint might be an 8.7, and a dirtbag politician might be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/nobody-is-either-honest-or-dishonest-life-is-a-gradient-and-a-saint/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) ## More by George Orwell > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [It was given out that the animals there practised cannibalism, tortured one another with red-hot horseshoes, and had their females in common. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-given-out-that-the-animals-there-practised-cannibalism/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“The actual writing would be easy. All he had to do was to transfer to paper the interminable restless monologue that had been running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-actual-writing-would-be-easy-all-he-had-to-do-was-to-transfer-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [He felt as though he were wandering in the forests of the sea bottom, lost in a monstrous world where he himself was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/he-felt-as-though-he-were-wandering-in-the-forests-of-the-sea-bottom/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“if you took 1 Corinthians, chapter thirteen, and in every verse wrote 'money' instead of 'charity', the chapter had ten times as much meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-you-took-1-corinthians-chapter-thirteen-and-in-every-verse-wrote/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Happiness can exist only in acceptance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/happiness-can-exist-only-in-acceptance/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-if-all-others-accepted-the-lie-which-the-party-imposed-if-all/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Whitman himself "accepted" a great deal that his contemporaries found unmentionable. For he is not only writing of the prairie, he also wanders through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/whitman-himself-accepted-a-great-deal-that-his-contemporaries-found/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Whatever the Party holds to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-i-tell-you-winston-that-reality-is-not-external-reality-exists-in/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“And the people under the sky were also very much the same...everywhere, all over the world, hundreds or thousands of millions of people just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-people-under-the-sky-were-also-very-much-the-same-everywhere/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/don-t-you-see-that-the-whole-aim-of-newspeak-is-to-narrow-the-range/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Windmill or no windmill, he said, life would go on as it had always gone on--that is, badly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/windmill-or-no-windmill-he-said-life-would-go-on-as-it-had-always/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/man-is-the-only-creature-that-consumes-without-producing-he-does-not/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And the bigger the fall, the bigger the joke. It would be better fun to throw a custard pie at a bishop than at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-bigger-the-fall-the-bigger-the-joke-it-would-be-better-fun-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Any writer or journalist who wants to retain his integrity finds himself thwarted by the general drift of society rather than by active persecution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/any-writer-or-journalist-who-wants-to-retain-his-integrity-finds/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Explore all 1,657 George Orwell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## More Advertisements quotes > [There's a subterranean impetus towards pornography so powerful that half the business world is juiced by the sort of half sex that one finds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/there-s-a-subterranean-impetus-towards-pornography-so-powerful-that/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [In advertisements for your favorite products, are women denigrated or objectified in some way? All of that is important. I would rewrite my kids'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geena-davis/in-advertisements-for-your-favorite-products-are-women-denigrated-or/) [Geena Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geena-davis/) > [ There's a fantastic, thousand-page book by David Thomson about \[David O. Selznick\]. Again, it's not the best argument or the best advertisement for his… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karina-longworth/there-s-a-fantastic-thousand-page-book-by-david-thomson-about-david-o/) [Karina Longworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karina-longworth/) > [Google has - at least at this point - maintained the line where it keeps organic results separate from the advertisements. But over time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wu/google-has-at-least-at-this-point-maintained-the-line-where-it-keeps/) [Tim Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wu/) > [Freedom! To fill people's mailboxes, eyes, ears and brains with commercial rubbish against their will, television programs that are impossible to watch with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/freedom-to-fill-people-s-mailboxes-eyes-ears-and-brains-with/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think if you can create a meaningful thing that is also an advertisement that's a pretty cool option for brands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-walters/i-think-if-you-can-create-a-meaningful-thing-that-is-also-an/) [Doug Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-walters/) > [I believe in advertisement and media completely. My art and my personal life are based in it. I think that the art world would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-koons/i-believe-in-advertisement-and-media-completely-my-art-and-my/) [Jeff Koons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-koons/) > [To measure your needs by that which is projected via mass media is a mistake that has no mercy. The average person views a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haki-r-madhubuti/to-measure-your-needs-by-that-which-is-projected-via-mass-media-is-a/) [Haki R. Madhubuti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haki-r-madhubuti/) > [It is futile to assume that an initially ineffective advertisement still needs to wear in; wear-in either happens quickly or it does not happen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-j-tellis/it-is-futile-to-assume-that-an-initially-ineffective-advertisement/) Gerard J Tellis > [Basically, art should remain something that is complex, that has many layers, so there's always a possibility to reconsider things and have a different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-henrot/basically-art-should-remain-something-that-is-complex-that-has-many/) [Camille Henrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-henrot/) > [No, no; 'tis all men's office to speak patience To those that wring under the load of sorrow, But no man's virtue nor sufficiency…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/no-no-tis-all-men-s-office-to-speak-patience-to-those-that-wring/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Unlucky people miss chance opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else. They go to parties intent on finding their perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wiseman/unlucky-people-miss-chance-opportunities-because-they-are-too-focused/) [Richard Wiseman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wiseman/) > [I think that the best approach would be if the American people ever insist that we cut down on the massive amounts of money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-carter/i-think-that-the-best-approach-would-be-if-the-american-people-ever/) [Jimmy Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-carter/) > [On the Bowery, in the ornate carcass of a formerly grand vaudeville theater, a dance marathon limps along. The contestants, young girls and their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libba-bray/on-the-bowery-in-the-ornate-carcass-of-a-formerly-grand-vaudeville/) [Libba Bray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libba-bray/) > [Today, our attention is less than the television advertisement. We're looking at six or seven problems constantly. We're living in the disturbed societies of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-abramovic/today-our-attention-is-less-than-the-television-advertisement-we-re/) [Marina Abramovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-abramovic/) Browse all 239 Advertisements quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Is the English press honest or dishonest? At normal times it is deeply dishonest. All the papers that matter live off their advertisements, and the advertisers exercise an indirect censorship over news. Yet I do not suppose there is one paper in England that can be straightforwardly bribed with hard cash. In the France of the Third Republic all but a very few of the newspapers could notoriously be bought over the counter like so many pounds of cheese.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Orwell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/is-the-english-press-honest-or-dishonest-at-normal-times-it-is-deeply/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Advertisements" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/is-the-english-press-honest-or-dishonest-at-normal-times-it-is-deeply/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/820/george-orwell-57_advertisements_is-the-english-press-honest-or-dishonest_2496412.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/820/george-orwell-57_advertisements_is-the-english-press-honest-or-dishonest_2496412.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/820/george-orwell-57_advertisements_is-the-english-press-honest-or-dishonest_2496412.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Is the English press honest or dishonest? At normal times it is deeply dishonest. All the papers that matter…” — George Orwell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "George Orwell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Is the English press honest or...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/is-the-english-press-honest-or-dishonest-at-normal-times-it-is-deeply/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/is-the-english-press-honest-or-dishonest-at-normal-times-it-is-deeply/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```