Never more true. Orwell should be required reading for anyone who works with, consumes, or tries to be one of the media—in short, everyone. This essay is an excellent place to start, and bonus points for having read Animal Farm and 1984 within the last 10 years (i.e., sometime after it was required for a class). Going back to look at my copies now, since I do not score the bonus points.

Addition:

Must be something in the air—found this just a little bit later in my Bloglines feed (from Believer Magazine):

BLVR: What is the hardest thing about filmmaking?

SS: I will say, and coming from someone who’s made some of the movies and TV I’ve made, it may seem disingenuous—but the hardest thing in the world is to be good and clear when creating anything. It’s the hardest thing in the world. It’s really easy to be obscure and elliptical and so fucking hard to be good and clear. It breaks people. Because you don’t often get encouragement to do that, to be good and clear.