'John Pilger's zest to expose uncomfortable truth made him a unique journalist'

31 December 2023 , 21:57

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John Pilger interviewed Nelson Mandela during his illustrious career (Image: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

John Pilger was a writer in the finest tradition of the Daily Mirror: passionate, articulate and always on the side of people who needed a voice like his.

And more than any of his generation, he appreciated that a columnist had to know the story before he aired his views. Aussie-born Pilger was an outstanding war and foreign correspondent long before he took up the cudgels as a commentator.

His desire to expose uncomfortable truth took him not just to war-torn regions like Vietnam but to conflict at home, with the Tory treatment of the NHS. Nothing escaped his withering eye for lying, hypocrisy and cant.

Critics complained that he was too anti-American, too unremittingly hostile to western leaders like Tony Blair and Barack Obama, and there was some truth in that verdict.

But this awkward, brilliant, award-winning journalist brought to Mirror readers a genuine zeal for understanding the reality behind the political and military propaganda that cloaks the actions of oppressors.

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We can no longer hear his distinctive voice, about Palestine, or refugees fleeing to Europe, or any of the other crises affecting humanity today. Others seek to fill the gap, but there was only one Pilger.

Paul Routledge