by William Powers

About the author: William Powers was the media critic for the New Republic magazine before quitting in 1997.

It’s a curious but not entirely surprising fact that, in the age of media profusion, we dream of media repression. I’m speaking of the Censorship Fantasy, which varies in detail but always features the same general plot line: (1) you are living under a wicked regime that maintains power by censoring the truth; (2) you are one of the enlightened few who see through the appalling lies and cover-ups; (3) it is your mission to defeat the censors and thereby save civilization, which you will do, though it most likely will cost you your life.

An Example of “Censorship”

The Censorship Fantasy is common today—many participants in talk radio suffer from it...