In times past, censorship was imposed on the media by totalitarians who regarded dissent as unpatriotic and subversive. They would close down newspapers or send gangs of thugs to smash the presses.

Things operate differently nowadays. Censorship is self-imposed. The most remarkable example that I have come across after the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling legalising same-sex marriage comes from The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, the capital of the state of Pennsylvania. The paper has a new editorial policy: it “will very strictly limit op-Eds and letters to the editor in opposition to same-sex marriage. These unions are now the law of the land. And we will not publish such letters and op-Eds any more than we would publish those that are racist, sexist or anti-Semitic.” Read more…