"What is the enemy of writing today? Fear — of moral judgment, public shaming, social ridicule, and ostracism. The mob has the final edit." #QotD

"If an editorial assistant points out that a line in a draft article will probably detonate an explosion on social media, what is her supervisor going to do—risk the blowup, or kill the sentence? Probably the latter. The notion of keeping the sentence because of the risk, to defy the risk, to push the boundaries of free expression just a few millimeters further out—that notion now seems quaint. So the mob has the final edit."

~ George Packer from his acceptance speech for the 2019 Hitchens Prize, awarded to "an author or a journalist whose work, in the spirit of the late Christopher Hitchens, 'reflects a commitment to free expression and inquiry, a range and depth of intellect, and a willingness to pursue the truth without regard to personal or professional consequence'.” Read: 'The Enemies of Writing'

[Hat tip Paul Litterick]
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