The Fallen Radical

John Pilger was a radical journalist gone wrong

Whilst I was saddened to hear of the death of the near-legendary Australian journalist John Pilger, his passing represents the end of a shameful period in left-wing public discourse, where this admittedly brilliant and radical writer, went from groundbreaking investigative correspondent to an embittered conspiracy theorist, churning out antisemitic tropes and clichés alongside his Jew-hating buddies, Jeremy Corbyn, Ken Loach and the truly vile Roger Waters.

However it is, Pilger was and remains a brilliant and compelling writer and, at his best, a true journalist in his unswerving commitment to speaking truth to power, and holding the corrupt to public accountability. If you’re looking for John Pilger at his best, his dispatches from Cambodia and the newly conquered Phnom Penh, and the subsequent film Year Zero, remain amongst the great works of war correspondence, whilst his book A Secret Country is a masterful look at the hidden realities of Pilger’s own country and its appalling maltreatment of its indigenous people.

The tragedy of John Pilger’s career is that this trailblazing and radical journalist with the beautiful writing style, ended up supporting the causes, and repeating the lies, of the type of organisations that he once despised and so bravely exposed.

Nick Jordan

Photo: Sydney Morning Herald