George Orwell’s famous declaration that “Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed; everything else is public relations” resonates powerfully today. We often see it as a universal creed for reporters. However, to truly grasp its meaning, we must look at its origins. The quote is not just a timeless ideal. It is a direct response to the intense political pressures of the 1940s. Orwell witnessed a specific kind of intellectual dishonesty that deeply troubled him. Therefore, understanding this context reveals the quote’s profound and targeted critique.
The Shadow of a Wartime Alliance
The 1940s were dominated by World War II. After Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, an unlikely alliance formed. The capitalist West, including Britain, joined forces with the communist USSR to defeat a common enemy. This military necessity created a unique intellectual climate. Suddenly, the brutal realities of Stalin’s regime became inconvenient truths. Many British intellectuals and journalists actively suppressed criticism of the Soviet Union. They viewed it as damaging to the war effort.
This created an atmosphere of self-censorship. Many on the left, who had previously been critical of Stalin, now celebrated the USSR as a heroic ally. They ignored or downplayed evidence of purges, famines, and totalitarian control. For example, they often overlooked the inconvenient pact Stalin had made with Hitler just a few years earlier. Orwell saw this as a dangerous betrayal of intellectual responsibility. He believed that truth should not be sacrificed for political convenience, even in wartime. The pressure to conform was immense, and speaking out against a key ally was seen as almost treasonous.
Orwell’s Spanish Disillusionment
Orwell’s convictions were forged in the crucible of the Spanish Civil War. In his book Homage to Catalonia, he documented his experiences fighting against fascism. More importantly, he described the bitter infighting on the Republican side. He saw firsthand how Soviet-backed communists crushed other leftist factions, including the one he fought for. They used propaganda and lies to rewrite events as they were happening. This experience was a turning point for him.
He learned a crucial lesson in Spain. He realized that totalitarian ideologies, whether fascist or communist, depended on controlling the narrative. They demanded the complete submission of objective reality to political doctrine. This firsthand exposure to manufactured news and historical distortion fueled his lifelong battle for truth. Consequently, when he returned to Britain, he was horrified to see educated people willingly accepting the very kind of propaganda he had just escaped. The war in Spain taught him that the fight for truth was as important as any military conflict.
The Struggle to Publish Truth
Nowhere is this context more evident than in the struggle to publish his allegorical novella, Animal Farm. The book was a sharp critique of the Russian Revolution and Stalin’s betrayal of its ideals. Yet, Orwell completed it in 1944, when the UK and USSR were still allies. Multiple publishers rejected the manuscript. They feared it would offend the Soviets and disrupt the alliance. One publisher’s rejection letter explicitly stated that it was not the right time to criticize the USSR . Source
This experience crystallized Orwell’s thinking. The “someone” who did not want something printed was not just a distant dictator. It was also the editor, the publisher, and the intellectual establishment in his own country. They were the gatekeepers of public discourse, and they were choosing comfort over truth. Therefore, real journalism, in his view, required confronting this powerful consensus. It meant telling people what they—and their leaders—did not want to hear. Everything else was simply reinforcing the accepted, comfortable narrative. That was just public relations.
A Lasting Legacy for Modern Journalism
Understanding the political backdrop of the 1940s transforms Orwell’s quote from a simple slogan into a deep political statement. It is a direct challenge to ideological conformity. Orwell’s primary target was the intellectual class that he felt had abdicated its duty to pursue truth. He argued that their allegiance to a political cause led them to justify or ignore atrocities.
This lesson remains incredibly relevant. Today, media landscapes are often polarized. News can be tailored to fit a specific worldview, and inconvenient facts are sometimes dismissed as “fake news.” Orwell’s warning reminds us that the most significant threats to truth may not come from overt government censorship. Instead, they can come from a more subtle, pervasive pressure to conform to a particular ideology. True journalism, as Orwell defined it, requires the courage to challenge our own side’s orthodoxies, not just those of our opponents. It is a moral act that demands intellectual independence above all else.