November 2007
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Author Ted Gup Earns Orwell Award for Honest
and Clear Language

Ted Gup, author of Nation of Secrets: The Threat to Democracy and the American Way of Life, is the winner of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) 2007 George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language.  The award recognizes outstanding contributions to the critical analysis of public discourse.  The honor will be announced at NCTE’s Annual Convention in New York City, during the Convention's General Session on Sunday, November 18, at 10:00 a.m., at the Javits Convention Center.

The NCTE Public Language Committee said, in announcing the award, "Few developments in American politics have been so disturbing as the Bush Administration's dramatic expansion of executive privilege and its willingness to conduct much of the business of government in secret—from Vice President Cheney's energy plan before September 11, 2001, to the National Security Agency's unprecedented surveillance programs after 9/11. Unfortunately, American media coverage of the White House has done very little to explain the scope and the import of the Bush Administration's commitment to secret government. In Nation of Secrets: The Threat to Democracy and the American Way of Life, Ted Gup performs a truly essential public service, exploring and detailing the rise of what might be called an emergent culture of secrecy in America."

Doublespeak Award Goes to Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales

In April 2007, then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified to the U.S. Senate with regard to the firing of eight U.S. attorneys by his office. "I'm here today to do my part to ensure that all facts about this matter are brought to light," Gonzales said. "These are not the actions of someone with something to hide."

However, the NCTE Public Language Award Committee states, "Gonzales's Senate testimony turned out to be a masterpiece of evasion and obfuscation: he insisted that the firings were not politically motivated, while professing not to recall very much about individual cases—or even the meetings or the conversations in which the firings were discussed. In response to questioning by Senator Edward Kennedy, Mr. Gonzales said, 'Senator, I have in my mind a recollection as to knowing as to some of these United States attorneys. There are two that I do not recall knowing in my mind what I understood to be the reasons for the removal.'"

For compelling testimony such as this, the NCTE Public Language Award Committee is honored to present the 2007 Doublespeak Award to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The award is an ironic "tribute" to American public figures who have perpetuated language that is grossly deceptive, evasive, euphemistic, confusing, or self-contradictory. The award will be announced at NCTE’s Annual Convention General Session, Sunday, November 18, at 10:00 a.m.

The National Council of Teachers of English, with 50,000 individual and institutional members worldwide, is dedicated to improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education.