Simply the greatest documentary maker of all time, and a rock of support for the Assange family.
Goodbye, John. We shall all miss you greatly.
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Immense gratitude for all John Pilger did and endured.
So sad, another of the greats gone and no one in younger generations to take their place.
RIP John, you were a bastion of truth, a well of confidence in the rights for all people, may your soul soar like rooks playing in the wind. What a tearful day it is.
RIP John, you will be greatly missed by those who have a deep mistrust of the mainstream media. You were never scared to stand up for what’s right and you would always scrutinise the workings of the state.
John was one of the greatest journalists of all time. May he rest in peace.
Very sad news
I first came across his work when I was in London and came across his article which critiqued the American film entitled ‘The deer hunter’..
It was a movie which tried to sanitise and explain away the Vietnam war by focusing through the lens of an American soldier and humanising him while not truly focusing on America’s atrocities.
Since then I never stopped, listening, watching and viewing his brilliant work.
He shall be missed.
RIP.
I recall him pointing out that there was zero evidence that the Vietnamese ever forced prisoners to play Russian roulette, it was a complete fabrication; and pointing out that for Hollywood the war was a story of decent white people tormented by little yellow devils, whereas the truth was that it was decent yellow people tormented by big white devils.
Huw,
” I recall him pointing out that there was zero evidence that the Vietnamese ever forced prisoners to play Russian roulette, it was a complete fabrication;”
Indeed.
His article was called ‘The Gook Hunter.’
Oh no!!!!! John Pilger has been one of Australia’s greatest exports – a courageous and exemplary journalist, writer, scholar, and documentary filmmaker. He had mainly been based in Britain since 1962 – a destination for a number of Australia’s “less appreciated” (by the Powers That Be) journalistic sons – including Wilfred Burchett and Julian Assange.
Australia’s loss has been the world’s gain over very many decades. A visit to his website https://johnpilger.com makes available his many films and essays, plus there are all his appearances on video channels that would cover him, and his guest writings in other publications.
The world is much the poorer for his passing, so it is all the more important that his life’s work is regularly put before the public – especially the next generation(s). Unlike what passes for history these days, John Pilger has left us records containing vast lashings of truth.
Thank you John Pilger, and my condolences to his family and close friends. I hope there will be a big online event in thanksgiving for his life and service.
John Pilger – May his memory be for a blessing.
No Fleur, Australia’s greatest exports are Pavlova, Lamingtons and Dame Edna Everidge.
If only we had more Pilgers to stand up to them. The absolute exemplar of what a journalist should be.
RIP
The eternal soul and man of peace known as John Pilger now undoubtedly rests in “the peace which passes all understanding”… The peace that passes understanding refers to a state of inner calmness and tranquility that surpasses logical explanation or human comprehension. It is a divine peace bestowed upon individuals who have an unwavering trust in God and surrender their worries, fears, and anxieties to Him.
As someone who has recently lost my companion in life for the last 50 years the expression ‘The peace that passes understanding’ appears as a long-standing balm that seeks to smooth the chaotic and devastating loss resulting in the death of someone very dear. It also, I think, refers to our profound ignorance of the big questions. Also I have never noticed that “god” cares about me or anyone else.
John Pilger was a man of rare moral rectitude: compare him to the vast majority of the current practitioners of his profession, a pearl to pig swill.
J Arther Nast, I am sorry for your loss; I hope this helps bring you some comfort, in time.
Thermodynamics provides a rigorous and quantitively highly accurate understanding of why things break down and decay, become more uniform, less differentiated, and overall, less interesting and intriguing to enquiring minds. However, as we explore backwards in time, we find less diversity rather than more. Organic evolution provides some explanation as to why the present more than the past contains large and complex organisms, colour vision, warm blood, suckling of young, social structures, civilisation etc, but it is powerless to explain, say, the diversity found in geology and the moons of Jupiter. Looking further back, spectroscopy shows only the lightest three elements in the most distant galaxies; apparently it requires stars and supernovae to forge and disperse the diversity of the heavier elements, which make possible all the chemistry, including that of life. Further back still, Hubble’s observations implying far higher temperatures, even the four fundamental forces of physics are found to have emerged from something undifferentiated.
There is clearly something creative going on, yet in stark contrast to decay, all our sciences seem unable to encapsulate it into a simple principle. And whatever it is, we also partake of it, being creative beings ourselves. It may not care about any of us personally, but ‘God’ seems an appropriate metaphor; strip out the political propaganda that always becomes parasitic upon religion and it fits: something eternal, universally creative, beyond human understanding, yet in some fundamental way we resemble it by participating in creation, and it is within each of us.
Your companion’s contribution persists. Hold all the memories dear, in heart and in mind, because your companion made the world more and better than it was before, just as John Pilger did.
Terrible news, I was just to post a comment about his death.
He really fought relentlessly and fearlessly for the truth all his life.
Another dissident have departed, there are unfortunately not many veterans left now from the “old school” of critics of western foreign policy issues.
I will watch his documentary “Palestine is still the issue” later today:
https://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/palestine-is-still-the-issue-2002/
May you rest in peace John, salute, Rest in peace.
Pretty much every one of his documentaries is a must-see imo. Sadly along with Palestine Is Still the Issue, films such as The Dirty War On The NHS and The Coming War On China are still relevant
An influential writer and journalist for me since my younger years. Helped make me what I am. I will remember him fondly…_
Such a sad day. RIP John Pilger. Truth-teller par excellence who held the powerful and corrupt to account in a world of lies and misinformation.
A great loss but your light and inspiration will never die out. We salute you.
Rest in peace John, you will be missed for centuries. There is never going to be another John. A man who stood up like a solid rock against West and their fake democracies, who kept exposing their hypocrisy and double standards. May you rest in peace.
Sad news – RIP John Pilger.
Craig – thank you for providing context and alternative interpretation of current affairs.
Let’s hope for more peace and less war – best wishes and good luck to all in 2024.
Oh no! 🙁
We’re all reeling at the extremely sad news of the death of the most wonderful, amazing journalist of our times, John Pilger. He brought the worlds’ attention to so much that is corrupt and basically evil, and it’s doubtful anyone else in our lives had the honesty, courage and know how to have taken on such daunting tasks. Our commiserations go to all his family and friends for their loss, and our hearts reach out to his great friend and supporter Julian Assange, who must be devastated in Belmarsh, alone in his prison cell.
My old Dad sat me down for one of his television documentaries at a fairly young age, saying, “Listen to this man. He’s brave, and tells the truth.” It was certainly startling.
We had a couple of his books in the house. Later, I bought a few more, and a dvd set of his documentaries. He was one of the very few people who I trusted to consistently tell us the truth about ourselves, and our supposed noble allies around the world.
Brilliant Human.
2024 will be harder without him.
Dorset Eye has a fine obit.
https://dorseteye.com/john-pilger-dies/
Very sad news, and a blow to all those who value true journalism. There are all too few left now to carry on in his principled and courageous footsteps.
The world will be a poorer place.
He came to me early – my ma was a big fan. In some way he has always been there for me – a valuable uncle, a kind man, a brave person. He helped fashion my “voice”, my morality. For me, he will never die – he is a part of me. I respect the grief of those who weep or silently remember but I am not sad just tearfully glad we had such a one amongst us for a while and every good I do, however insignificant, he has a part in, the humanity that I share he has helped build – how many people has he touched, how many people spread his message. Every human is flawed; I am sure John Pilger had his off-days, made poor decisions and the rest but to pass the basic truth to others is all there is and I believe he did this.
When I scan the photos of the journalists in Gaza burying another colleague, I wonder who are the “Pilgers” amongst those sad dignified faces. Over here, journalists are comfortable, safe and tame, in Gaza they see barbarity and naked inhumanity as the daily grind. I celebrate you Palestinian “Pilgers”, dying in your droves – no-one could accuse you of having no “skin” in this game.
Yeah John Pilger was one of the greats, he’ll be sorely missed.
It grieves me to say this but one has to anticipate valedictions from John’s fellow journalists, many of which will fall into two opposed, but equally nauseating, categories. The first being wholehearted tributes from people operating under a liberal flag whilst excusing the present mass murder in Gaza, and the other attempts to smear John as some kind of racist or otherwise a charlatan – this latter from people who would never have dared to venture such defamation whilst the journalist was still alive. This we expect because this was precisely the case on the death of Robert Fisk, another exposer of the atrocities and hypocrisy of the West and its allies.
There is no doubt we will be treated to that. With the assumption that they are superior journalists and human beings.
Very sad news.
Thank you John, you will be missed.
John Pilger was the finest investigative and political journalist of the post-war age. A truly courageous person who wrote with elegant simplicity on the most terrible of subjects and was an equally brilliant documentary filmmaker. May he rest in peace and be remembered forever.
sad indeed…
A sad year indeed, with the deaths of both John Pilger and Robert Fisk. The truth movement has had a knockdown…but hopefully, not a knockout.
A great loss to the quest for truth and transparency
Sad. His documentaries on the crimes of the Hegemon were an incredible breath of fresh air and he was ahead of everyone in raising the alarm about the coming war on China. Today there is barely a journalist in western MSM willing to criticize the Hegemon for perpetrating a Genocide right in front of the world’s eyes. No dissenting journalist will be permitted such a platform again. Rest in Peace, John Pilger.
An irreplaceable loss. In mourning…
Such a sad day. He was an exemplary role model for journalists. And, an inspiration to all.
Oh dear, a huge loss, I’ll miss him terribly. Somehow I thought he was immortal.