Campaigning journalist Pilger dies aged 84
INVESTIGATIVE journalist John Pilger has died aged 84, his family has said.
The Australia-born documentary maker was known for covering the aftermath of Pol Pot’s regime in Cambodia and the Thalidomide scandal, along with his war correspondent work.
His Twitter said: “It is with great sadness the family of John Pilger announce he died yesterday 30 December 2023 in London aged 84.
“His journalism and documentaries were celebrated around the world, but to his family he was simply the most amazing and loved Dad, Grandad and partner. Rest In Peace.”
Pilger worked for the Daily Mirror, ITV’S former investigative programme World In Action and Reuters.
In 1979, the ITV film Year Zero: The Silent Death of Cambodia revealed the extent of the Khmer Rouge’s crimes and Pilger won an International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences award for his 1990s follow-up ITV documentary
Cambodia: The Betrayal.
He also made the 1974 documentary
Thalidomide: The Ninety-eight We Forgot, about the campaign for compensation for children after concerns were raised about birth defects when expectant mothers took the drug, for ITV.
He received Bafta’s Richard Dimbleby Award for factual reporting in 1991. Former Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow tweeted: “John Pilger was a great and steadfast journalist – I am sad to learn of his death at 84.”
Kevin Lygo, managing director of media and entertainment at ITV, said: “John was a giant of campaigning journalism. He had a clear, distinctive editorial voice which he used to great effect throughout his distinguished filmmaking career.
“His documentaries were engaging, challenging and always very watchable.
“He eschewed comfortable consensus and instead offered a radical, alternative approach on current affairs and a platform for dissenting voices over 50 years. John’s films gave viewers analysis and opinion often not seen elsewhere in the television mainstream. It was a contribution that greatly added to the rich plurality of British television.”