Print Media, Censorship, and Citizen Kane

Written Language has been around for centuries. Humans have had several thousand years to perfect it, to develop the various forms of expression, rebellion and information distribution. Consequently, this has offered humans who are in power the time to develop various ways to restrict, censor, and control those who actually do the writing. Today we have editors, publishers, politicians who push their money around, and the social elite who essentially control out print media. There are also a select few who go against this “social norm” and print what actually needs to be said, regardless of what some guy in a suit wants them to write.
Daniel Roche writes in his article Revolution in Print that “Before publication came a skillful exercise in censorship, applied through a policy of selective privilege that involved the prepublication inspection of manuscripts for content and the rewarding of publishers…After publication, control was further applied by the police” (3). Althou...