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John Pilger
149/Sue Mew
DATELINE: 11/1/06
The season of on-stage events and classic screenings in celebration of ITV50 - 50 years of independent British television - opened at the National Film Theatre on 6 November with investigative journalist, war correspondent, author and award-making documentary film-maker, John Pilger, in conversation with Julian Petley, Professor of Film and Television Studies, Brunel University and co-chair of the CPBF.
John Pilger’s reflections on his work and his career were preceded by a screening of two of his most provocative TV reports - Year Zero: The Silent Death of Cambodia (ATV 1979) and Breaking the Silence: Truth and Lies in the War on Terror (Carlton, 2003). Year Zero was the first report to emerge from Cambodia following the destruction inflicted by Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger and the eventual fall of the Pol Pot regime, and led to £19m in relief funds being raised. The more recent Breaking the Silence engages with the way in which the events of 11 September 2001 now dominate almost everything we watch, read and hear and questions the real aims of the current ‘war on terror’ and the rise of a rapacious, imperial power that dare not speak its name because it is ‘our’ terrrorism’.
In a world in which the distinction between fact and fiction, truth and lies are increasingly obfuscated through sound-bites, cover-up, duplicity and political spin, Pilger’s work represents a timely reminder of the power and role of investigative journalism at its best - a journalism that is not susceptible to manipulation, deception or intimidation and continues to ask the right questions in search of truth and to challenge the ‘story-telling’, and ‘silences’ of those in power that often constitute the ‘official version’ of events. Pilger’s latest book Tell Me Know Lies (Vintage, 2004), is an excellent testament to the triumphs of investigative journalism and political dissent - a tradition of which he is and remains an international figurehead - and includes selected writings by Martha Gellhorn, Robert Fisk, Paul Foot, Seamus Milne, Seymour Hersh and many others.
Pilger’s work serves to remind us all of a tenacious and courageous journalism that has become increasingly marginalised by the demands of a 24/7 news culture that has become increasingly stage-managed by spin-doctors, PR advisers and corporate interests. The role of the media in democratic society and journalistic standards within the news media is a public issue and one that is of public interest. Pilger’s work over the past 40 years reminds us of the standards we should expect from the news media both now and in the future.
The ITV50 season celebrating 50 Years of Independent Television continues at the NFT from 6 November - 29 December 2005.
Last modified: Wednesday, January 11, 2006
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