John Pilger, who turned 69 last week, on the proper role of media:
If journalists can look behind the press-release version of events, or push back the screen of what is often propaganda but rarely recognised as such, then we will produce true journalism, not a form of PR. We ought to be the agents of people, not power.
Journalists must hold Governments, corporations and authorities responsible for their decisions.
It is hard to call people with power to account.
It is much easier to regard their hypocrisy as a minor vice.
“We are all pragmatists” is how many journalists dismiss broken promises by Governments.
John Pilger doesn’t hesitate to present an adequate report of reality in all its tawdriness.
We should wish for more John Pilgers.
John
Hey I thought the real journalism was going to be left to the citizen bloggers
Are there any tertiary courses that focus on new media journalsim. I was thinking that perhaps a way of improving work quality is to have trained part time journalists/bloggers/freelaners located across the country /world.
Trust Pilger to to say exactly what has to be said, and say it so well.
Looks like I stumbled across a John Pilger love-in. For me he has lost it - his last film with Hugo Chavez in it was cringeworthy in that it blatantly ignored Chavez’s restriction on free speech in an attempt to say America is bad.