“Just to say this is to break a taboo, especially on television, where the unerring line is that the”
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John Pilger
John Richard Pilger was an Australian journalist, writer, scholar and documentary filmmaker. From 1962, he was based mainly in Britain. He was also a visiting professor at Cornell University in New York.
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culture · Australian journalist (1939–2023) · war correspondent · writer · director · journalist · film director · screenwriter · author · filmmaker · documentarian · also John Pilger, John Richard Pilger, Pilger
Born 9 October 1939 · Died 30 December 2023 · Q471546
65 published statements · 0 followers
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His behaviour is irresponsible and a disgrace, because it threatens the work of others who might now think twice before embarking on a film about a people who are denied a voice.
85%The GuardianSource
2026· 5 entries
“His behaviour is irresponsible and a disgrace, because it threatens the work of others who might now think twice before embarking on a film about a people who are denied a voice.”
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“Our historical adviser was one of Israel”
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“My reporting, which was really exclusive, it was telling people something that they didn”
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“no more gross in essence than, say, David Cameron”
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2024· 2 entries
CounterPunch: So Long, Good Night, John Pilger
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The Washington Post: John Pilger, high-profile journalist who exposed abuses, dies at 84
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2023· 6 entries
Yahoo: John Pilger, Australian Documentarian and Investigative Journalist, Dies at 84
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Yahoo: John Pilger remembered as ‘giant of journalism’
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WSLS 10: John Pilger, Australia-born journalist and filmmaker known for covering Cambodia, dies at 84
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Deadline.com: John Pilger Dies: Investigative Journalist & Documentarian Was 84
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Died 2023-12-30.
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“Putin is the only leader to condemn the rise of fascism in 21st-century Europe.”
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2022· 3 entries
“Media is an extension of power but when we recognise that we become aware of official drivel and understand that the truth is subversive. It always is.”
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Pilger said: "When will we allow ourselves to understand
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“When will we allow ourselves to understand? Training journalists factory style is not the answer. Neither is the wondrous digital tool, which is a means, not an end, like the one-finger typewriter and the linotype machine. In recent years, some of the best journalists have been eased out of the mainstream. ‘Defenestrated’ is the word used. The spaces once open to mavericks, to journalists who went against the grain, truth-tellers, have closed.”
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2020· 1 entry
“Pilger decries inattention to hunger, malaria and American wars and blockades”
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2019· 1 entry
The Real News Network: John Pilger: Extradition Process a ‘Very Long Uphill Road’ for Assange
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2018· 1 entry
Pilger said his "written journalism is no longer welcome" in the mainstream and that "probably its last home" was in The Guardian
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2017· 2 entries
Awarded Order of Timor-Leste (2017).
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“coup against the man in the White House is under way. This is not because he is an odious human being, but because he has consistently made clear he does not want war with Russia. This glimpse of sanity, or simple pragmatism, is anathema to the”
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2016· 3 entries
“Trump is speaking straight to ordinary Americans”
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“Obama was one of the most violent U.S. Presidents. He launched or sustained seven wars and left office with none resolved: a record. In his last year as President, 2016, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, he dropped 26,171 bombs. It’s an interesting statistic; it’s three bombs every hour, 24 hours a day, on mostly civilians.”
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“notorious terrorist jihadist group called ISIL or ISIS is created largely with money from [the government of Saudi and the government of Qatar] who are giving money to the Clinton Foundation”
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2014· 2 entries
Pilger wrote that "The truth about the criminal bloodbath in Iraq cannot be "countered" indefinitely
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“is the only leader to condemn the rise of fascism in 21st-century Europe”
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2012· 2 entries
“Journalism students should be taught to be sceptical of their employers, sceptical of their governments. Governments are still portrayed as benign if they’re ours, and if they’re other’s, they’re not.”
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And Pilger's bail money was lost when a judge ordered it to be forfeited
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2009· 4 entries
Awarded Sydney Peace Prize (2009).
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Lecture to students at the University of Lincoln: "He disputed the label of “mainstream”, preferring to label it “corporate”, as the most prominent media outlets are often controlled by large corporations
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“In his first 100 days, Obama has excused torture, opposed habeas corpus and demanded more secret government”
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Pilger wrote, "In his first 100 days, Obama has excused torture, opposed habeas corpus and demanded more secret government"
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2008· 2 entries
In an interview with Ian Burrell of the Independent, Pilger remarked: ""The influence of The Independent and Guardian are much greater than you would think
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Was awarded the Doctor of Arts by the University of Lincoln and opened its school of journalism in 2004
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2004· 4 entries
“Too often courses are like factories churning out conformist journalists for the industry. They tend to promote a ‘top-down’ kind of journalism which prioritises elite sources. Too rarely do they promote journalism that prioritises the views of ‘ordinary’ people. From my experience these are the people I can trust the most.”
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Pilger criticised British Prime Minister Tony Blair as equally responsible for the invasion and the bungled occupation of Iraq
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As the Iraq insurgency increased, Pilger wrote that the anti-war movement should support "Iraq's anti-occupation resistance:
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Pilger told the packed room at its launch that "Too often courses are like factories churning out conformist journalists for the industry
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2003· 4 entries
Awarded Sophie Prize (2003).
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And 2004, Pilger criticised United States President George W
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Criticised what he called the "liberal lobby" which "promote killing" from "behind a humanitarian mask"
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As one of his "typical pieces about the corruption of most journalists (ie people like me [Aaronovitch]) versus the bravery of a few (ie people like him)"
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2002· 4 entries
“historic injustice has been done to the Palestinian people, and until Israel”
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And had Ilan Pappé as historical adviser
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And the response of the people of Caracas
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Said that "many journalists now are no more than channellers and echoers of what Orwell called the official truth"
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2001· 5 entries
Awarded honorary doctorate presented by The Open University (2001).
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Awarded Monismanien Prize (2001).
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After the 9/11 attacks, while Piers Morgan was editor
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“The truth about the criminal bloodbath in Iraq cannot be”
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To initiate what would ultimately become Operation Defensive Shield
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2000· 1 entry
That the 1998 legislation that removed the common-law rights of Indigenous peoples:
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1998· 1 entry
Noted the difficulty journalism students had in securing work: "You say lots of allegedly wise things to students and at the end they invariably ask the same question: 'How do we get a job
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1991· 1 entry
“written journalism is no longer welcome”
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1990· 1 entry
Where he named Joseph Heller's Catch-22 as his favourite book and "Blue Moon of Kentucky" by Elvis Presley as his favourite song, and chose a typewriter as his luxury item
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1982· 1 entry
Pilger authored an article for the Daily Mirror in which he wrote that he had bought an 8-year-old Thai slave girl for £85, and subsequently to have discovered her village of origin in Northern Thailand and returned her
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1981· 1 entry
Continued to make documentaries for screening on ITV, initially for Central, and later via Carlton Television
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1979· 1 entry
Pilger and two colleagues with whom he collaborated for many years, documentary filmmaker David Munro and photographer Eric Piper, entered Cambodia in the wake of the overthrow of the Pol Pot regime
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1973· 1 entry
Of the democratically elected Chilean leader Salvador Allende, who was replaced by the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet
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1969· 2 entries
Directed by Denton, for whom he made two documentaries broadcast in 1970 and 1971, the earliest of more than fifty in his career
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Pilger went with Australian activist Charlie Perkins on a tour to Jay Creek in Central Australia
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1963· 1 entry
Was recruited by the English Daily Mirror, again as a sub-editor
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1962· 1 entry
And working as a sub-editor, Pilger joined British United Press and then Reuters on its Middle-East desk
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1958· 1 entry
As a copy boy with the Sydney Sun, Pilger later moved to Daily Telegraph in Sydney, where he was a reporter, sportswriter and sub-editor
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1939· 1 entry
Born 1939-10-09.
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