Titled The New Colossus, this poem was written by Emma Lazarus in 1883 to raise money for a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty. The poem now appears inside the pedestal's lower level. The opening lines refer to the Colossus of Rhodes, a huge sculpture built at the entrance to Rhodes harbour in 280 BC to celebrate victory over Macedon. In contrast, Lazarus imagined the Statue of Liberty as a welcoming symbol, offering hope and a new beginning to people arriving in America.
George Orwell said, ‘If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people things they do not want to hear.’ The American artist and musician Patti Smith said it’s the right to write the wrong words. This idea of freedom is the complete opposite of cancel culture.
Literally ‘say what is’, this German phrase is associated with the news magazine Der Spiegel. It also has the sense ‘tell it like it is’ – speak the unvarnished truth. This is the duty of the independent journalist: report the facts objectively.
