John Pilger is an outstanding, expatriate Australian, UK-based journalist. In the words of the New Statesman: “John Pilger, renowned investigative journalist and documentary film-maker, is one of only two to have twice won British journalism's top award; his documentaries have won academy awards in both the UK and the US. In a New Statesman survey of the 50 heroes of our time, Pilger came fourth behind Aung San Suu Kyi and Nelson Mandela. "John Pilger," wrote Harold Pinter, "unearths, with steely attention facts, the filthy truth. I salute him."” (see: http://www.newstatesman.com/newspapers/2011/07/pilger-murdoch-media-press ).
John Pilger on Murdochracy Australia (2010): “What is a murdochracy? It is where the fealty and augmentation of Murdoch's editors and managers are undisguised, an inspiration to his choir on seven continents, where even his competitors sing along and wise politicians heed the Murdochism: "What'll it be? A headline a day or a bucket of shit a day?"… Murdoch knows that little separates the main political parties in Australia, Britain and America. He plays the man. In 1972, he backed Australia's Gough Whitlam, who revealed himself to be a radical reformer. A furious Murdoch swung his newspapers against Whitlam with stories so outrageously skewed that rebellious journalists on the Australian burned their paper in the street. That has never been repeated… In 1983, there were 50 major corporations dominating the world's media. By 2002, this had been reduced to nine. Rupert Murdoch says that eventually there will be three, including his own. If we accept this, media and information control will be the same, and we all shall be citizens of a murdochracy.” [1].
John Pilger on Murdoch media (2011): “The Fleet Street hacks and men from Westminster are now scrabbling to rewrite the history of the phone-hacking fiasco. The pact between press and parliament remains the same… The Guardian of 13 July editorialised about "the kowtowing of the political class to the Murdochs". This is all too true. Kowtowing is an ancient ritual, often performed by those whose pacts with power may not be immediately obvious, but are no less sulphuric. Tony Blair, soaked in the blood of an entire society, was once regarded almost mystically at the Guardian and Observer as the prime minister who, wrote Hugo Young, "wants to create a world none of us have known [where] the mind might range in search of a better Britain . . ." He was in perfect harmony with the [Murdoch media] chorus over at Wapping. "Mr Blair," said the Sun, "has vision, he has purpose and he speaks our language on morality and family life." Plus ça change.” [2].
John Pilger on UK Leveson Media Inquiry (2012): “In Britain, this world of subjugated news and information is concealed behind a similar facade of a “free” media, which promotes the extremisms of state corruption and war, consumerism and an impoverishment known as “austerity”… The iniquity of Rupert Murdoch was not his “influence” over the Tweedledees and Tweedledums in Downing Street, nor the thuggery of his eavesdroppers, but the augmented barbarism of his media empire in promoting the killing, suffering and dispossession of countless men, women and children in the US's and Britain's illegal wars.Murdoch has plenty of respectable accomplices. The liberal Observer was as rabid a devotee of the Iraq invasion. When Tony Blair gave evidence to the Leveson inquiry, bleating about the media's harassment of his wife, he was interrupted by a filmmaker, David Lawley-Wakelin, who described him as a war criminal. At that, Lord Leveson leapt to his feet and ordered the truth-teller thrown out and apologised to the war criminal. Such an exquisite display of irony is contemptuous of all of us.” [3].
[1]. John Pilger, “Welcome to the first Murdochracy”, New Statesman, 11 March 2010: http://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2010/03/pilger-australia-murdoch-media .
[2]. John Pilger, “Amid the Murdoch scandal there’s an acrid smell of business as usual”, New Statesm,an, 21 July 2011: http://www.newstatesman.com/newspapers/2011/07/pilger-murdoch-media-press .
[3]. John Pilger, “John Pilger: Corporate media responsible for mass hacking”, Green Left Weekly, 9 December 2012: http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/53019 .