John (Richard) Pilger - Life and career, Criticism of 'mainstream' journalism

Journalist and documentary film-maker, born in Sydney, New South Wales, SE Australia. A provocative and controversial journalist who has worked mainly in Britain, he has twice won the British Journalist of the Year award and is a winner of the UNESCO Peace Prize. His film Year Zero (1979) exposed the atrocities of Pol Pot to the world. Later films include Vietnam: The Last Battle (1995) and Inside Burma: Land of Fear (1996). His published works include the collected writings Heroes (1986), Hidden Agendas (1998), and The New Rulers of the World (2002). His book, The Secret Country (1989), is a critical appraisal of the position of Aboriginal people in Australia.

John Pilger (born October 9, 1939) is an Australian journalist and documentary filmmaker from Sydney, primarily based in London, England.

Life and career

Pilger's career in journalism began in 1958, and he has developed his reputation through both his reporting and the various books and documentary films that he has written or produced.

Pilger is an example of the exodus of Australian intellectuals from Australia to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s which included Barry Humphries, Clive James, and Germaine Greer. The verb was also added to the 1991 edition of Oxford English Dictionary of New Words (), but revoked in 1994 following complaints by Pilger.

1958 - 62 Reporter, freelance writer, sports writer and sub-editor - Daily & Sunday Telegraph, Sydney 1962 - Freelance correspondent - Italy 1962 1962 - 63 Middle East desk, Reuters, London 1963 - 86 Reporter, sub-editor, feature writer and Chief Foreign Correspondent - Daily Mirror 1986 - 88 Editor-in-Chief and a founder, News on Sunday, London 1969 - 71 Reporter, World in Action, Granada Television 1974 - 81 Reporter/Producer, ATV 1981 - Documentary film-maker, Central and Carlton Television

Pilger has a son Sam (born in 1973) and a daughter Zoe (born in 1984).

Criticism of 'mainstream' journalism

Pilger is a strong critic of the institutions and economic forces that structure 'mainstream' journalism.

He claimed in an address at Columbia University on 14 April 2006:

In a column published in New Statesman on 18 August 2006, Pilger ascribed blame for the London Bombings that took place in July 2005 to Blair, whose decision to support the invasion of Iraq, and the overthrow of the Saddam Hussein regime, generated the rage that he claims precipitated those bombings. In the same column, Pilger described Blair as a "war criminal" who was also responsible for tacitly approving Israel's actions during its invasion of Southern Lebanon. Works Publications Pilger has written for the following publications: Daily Mirror (UK) The Guardian (UK) The Independent (UK) New Statesman (UK) Bulb magazine (UK) The New York Times (US) The Los Angeles Times (US) The Nation: New York (US) The Age: Melbourne (Australia) The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) The Bulletin: Sydney (Australia) Green Left Weekly (Australia) Information Clearing House (internet) He has also written for various French, Italian, Scandinavian, Canadian and Japanese newspapers and periodicals, among others, and has contributed to the BBC's news service. He is on the advisory board of UKWatch Selected documentaries Year Zero: The Silent Death of Cambodia 1979 Japan Behind the Mask 1987 Death of a Nation: The Timor Conspiracy 1994 Video Vietnam: the Last Battle 1995 Inside Burma: Land of Fear 1996 Apartheid Did Not Die 1998 Welcome To Australia 1999 Paying the Price: Killing the Children of Iraq 2000 Palestine Is Still the Issue 2002 Video Breaking the Silence: Truth and Lies in the War on Terror 2003 Stealing a Nation 2004 Video DVDs Documentaries That Changed The World - 11/9/06 World In Action Vol. 1 - features The Quiet Mutiny 31/10/05 Books by Pilger The Last Day (1975) Aftermath: The Struggles of Cambodia and Vietnam (1981) The Outsiders (1984) Heroes (1986) A Secret Country (1989) Distant Voices (1992 and 1994) Hidden Agendas (1998) The New Rulers of the World (2002) Tell Me No Lies: Investigative Journalism and its Triumphs (ed.) Cape (2004) Blowin' in the wind (2004) Freedom Next Time (2006) Play The Last Day (1983) Awards Awards include: Descriptive Writer of the Year (1966) Reporter of the Year (1967) Journalist of the Year (1967) International Reporter of the Year (1970) News Reporter of the Year (1974) Campaigning Journalist of the Year (1977) Journalist of the Year (1979) UN Media Peace Prize, Australia (1979 – 80) UN Media Peace Prize – Gold Medal, Australia (1980 – 81) TV Times Readers' Award (1979) The George Foster Peabody Award, USA (1990) American Television Academy Award ('Emmy') (1991) British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) – The Richard Dimbleby Award (1991) Reporters Sans Frontiers Award, France (1990) International de Television Geneve Award (1995) The Monismanien Prize, Sweden (2001) The Sophie Prize for Human Rights, Norway (2003) EMMA Media Personality of the Year (2003) Royal Television Society – Best British Documentary for Stealing a Nation (2004) Quotes "There is no War on Terrorism;