{"id":1548,"date":"2014-09-30T03:49:44","date_gmt":"2014-09-30T10:49:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/?p=1548"},"modified":"2014-10-05T07:37:57","modified_gmt":"2014-10-05T14:37:57","slug":"this-is-not-censorship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/09\/this-is-not-censorship\/","title":{"rendered":"This is not censorship (updated, again)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"this<\/a>The New York Times<\/em> reports<\/a> on authors forming a group to back publisher Hachette in its quest to have Amazon.com charge consumers higher prices for books. A literary agent is quoted:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very clear to me, and to those I represent, that what Amazon is doing is very detrimental to the publishing industry and the interests of authors,\u201d the agent said. \u201cIf Amazon is not stopped, we are facing the end of literary culture in America.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And author Ursula Le Guin:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re talking about censorship: deliberately making a book hard or impossible to get, \u2018disappearing\u2019 an author,\u201d Ms. Le Guin wrote in an email. \u201cGovernments use censorship for moral and political ends, justifiable or not. Amazon is using censorship to gain total market control so they can dictate to publishers what they can publish, to authors what they can write, to readers what they can buy. This is more than unjustifiable, it is intolerable.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Oh come on. Censorship is a real thing in this world, with governments making books unavailable to their citizens to read. I have quite a few such books on my shelf. I bought them through Amazon. And I can easily buy books by Ms Le Guin in this country, and nobody, including Amazon, is telling her publishers what they can publish, or her what she can write. And it trivializes the plight of authors who actually are censored. We are not facing the end of literary culture in America. I wish Amazon and Hachette would resolve this, and I do not support some tactics that Amazon has used. But the rhetoric is getting just a bit ridiculous.<\/p>\n

UPDATE: Regal Cinemas and Cinemark are engaged in censorship<\/a>?<\/p>\n

UPDATE (October 5): New York Times<\/em> Public Editor: ‘Publishing Battle Should Be Covered, Not Joined<\/a>.’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New York Times reports on authors forming a group to back publisher Hachette in its quest to have Amazon.com charge consumers higher prices for books. A literary agent is quoted: \u201cIt\u2019s very clear to me, and to those I represent, that what Amazon is doing is very detrimental to the publishing industry and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1548","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-issues","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/dream-of-ding-village.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3dIW5-oY","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1617,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/10\/amazon-and-monopoly-encore\/","url_meta":{"origin":1548,"position":0},"title":"Amazon and monopoly: encore (updated)","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"October 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The debate that won't die. I've posted on whether Amazon is a monopoly (it isn't) here and here. Today Joe Nocera joins Matt Yglesias and Annie Lowrey in his critique of Franklin Foer's New Republic article that tries to claim dangerous monopoly powers at Amazon. Artsjournal.com blog neighbor Scott Timberg\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"still don't need it","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/jail-card-monopoly.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/jail-card-monopoly.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/jail-card-monopoly.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/jail-card-monopoly.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1557,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/10\/is-amazon-com-a-monopoly\/","url_meta":{"origin":1548,"position":1},"title":"Is Amazon.com a monopoly? (updated October 10)","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"October 1, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"In a comment on my previous post, on Amazon and what I saw as overheated rhetoric regarding censorship, BobG wrote: Arguing over a definition of censorship is avoiding the actual issue. Amazon IS making it difficult to get certain books (that\u2019s their announced strategy) and they are poised to become\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"still don't need it","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/jail-card-monopoly.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/jail-card-monopoly.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/jail-card-monopoly.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/jail-card-monopoly.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":469,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2013\/03\/self-publishing-and-the-theology-of-free\/","url_meta":{"origin":1548,"position":2},"title":"Self-publishing and the theology of free","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"March 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Artsjournal.com links today to a story from Publishers Weekly at SXSW on self-publishing and the \"theology of free.\" But what exactly is this theology? Called Self-Publishing in the Age of E, Deahl\u2019s panel featured bestselling self (and now conventionally) published novelist Hugh Howey, author of the bestselling sci-fi series Wool,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"write for free?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/writer.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1255,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/04\/secrets-of-success\/","url_meta":{"origin":1548,"position":3},"title":"Secrets of success","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"April 29, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"At Salon, Laura Miller writes about literary scholar Franco Moretti, and his efforts to analyze texts in order to discover what makes a success: Miller: One of the aspects of your work that\u2019s the most counterintuitive at first glance is that you\u2019re not that interested in studying literary masterpieces. You\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"a big data set","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/penguin-cover-george-eliot-middlemarch.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/penguin-cover-george-eliot-middlemarch.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/penguin-cover-george-eliot-middlemarch.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4628,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2025\/12\/john-careys-what-good-are-the-arts\/","url_meta":{"origin":1548,"position":4},"title":"John Carey’s “What Good are the Arts?”","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"December 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Literary critic and academic John Carey\u00a0died last week at the age of ninety-one. I always enjoyed reading his reviews. If you hadn\u2019t already guessed how the Bloomsbury set and their literary contemporaries viewed common folk, his book\u00a0The Intellectuals and the Masses\u00a0gives you chapter and verse. I enjoyed\u00a0Henry Oliver\u2019s appreciation of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1050,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/02\/is-amazon-good-for-readers\/","url_meta":{"origin":1548,"position":5},"title":"Is Amazon good for readers?","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"February 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I enjoyed George Packer's New Yorker article on Amazon, and recommend it. ArtsJournal's link to the story has the heading \"Is Amazon good for books? Not just publishers, but books themselves?\" The New Yorker's own sub-heading is \"Amazon is good for customers. But is it good for books?\" I find\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/02\/is-amazon-good-for-readers\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"good for this reader","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/amazon-warehouse-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/amazon-warehouse-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/amazon-warehouse-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/amazon-warehouse-2.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1548"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1569,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1548\/revisions\/1569"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}