Talk:John Pilger

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Anonymous Responds Frankly, I think the argument that Pilger is not anti-American, just vehemently opposed to US foreign policy and much of its domestic policy is specious. To a large degree, policy is an expression of identity. And when you have such hostility to the US that you construe the toppling of the Taliban as an effort to get UNOCAL a pipeline across Afghanistan that meets the criteria for being anti-American.

Response to Anonymous Above If John Pilger is anti-American in the broadest sense due to his criticisms of American foreign policy, then so be it. But really: what is the big deal exactly? Why is being anti-American equated with being anti-God almost? Why no bones made of people who are anti-Sweden or anti-Iceland? Why is it an abominable horror for someone to criticise America? And why should that person then be subjected to accusations they are anti-American as if being anti-American is the worst possible crime?

Recent Edits by Anonymous

Hi 203.13.126.19 I would like to know why you believe your recent edits do not contradict wikipedias [NPOV] policy. If someone has accused Pilger of excluding facts and tainting the truth such accusations should have authoritative sources. I think your edits also do not avoid using [weasel terms]. The best thing to do here is to get a quote from someone making such an accusation, if you could find one that would be great.

I would also recommend you to sign up to wikipedia and get a user name it will make communicating easier. O'Dubhghaill 01:39, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I have removed the suggestion that Pilger is "anti-American." Pilger is against much of America's foreign and domestic policy. He is not "anti-American." There is a big difference obvious to any sentient being.

“The articles attracted opprobrium in the United Kingdom media, which accused Pilger of "blaming the victims".” — I'm going to remove this sentence unless someone actually chucks in an example or two. It's far too vague and unsourced at the moment. --Redit 23:33, August 23, 2005 (UTC)

How about some personal details like where he grew up, his school days, etc? Can anyone contribute these?

"And says that unless there was "an extraordinary coincidence" then the United States government was directly involved in the 9/11 attacks, standing down their planes so al Quaida could attack New York." -- Source please. --Redit 04:31, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

I have removed much of the POV anti-Pilger tone from this article. In parts, it was reading like a right-wing propaganda piece. In particular, I have removed the false claim that Pilger has said that Cuban communism is a 'model for the world'. Pilger actually said that the Cuban health care system is a model for the world, which as the person who made the edits surely knows, is not the same thing (although since when did the facts ever get in the way of a good smear?). In fact, if I remember rightly, it was Johann Hari who originally twisted this quote in an article, so to be fair perhaps the contributor got the idea from him.

With regard to the claims that Pilger says 9/11 was an inside job, this is slightly closer to the truth than the Cuba claims but stll misleading. Pilger has never said the U.S government 'stood down their planes so al-Quada could attack NYC' and this quote is simply fabricated from thin air. He actually said that the US air force early-warning system for hijackings failed on the morning of 9/11 for the first time in the country's history and the fact that Dick Cheney was effectively in command of air defences that morning in the absence of Bush 'may or not be a coincidence'. While clearly implying that Dick Cheney may have somehow deliberately sabotaged efforts to respond to the hijackings, Pilger say nothing about there being a need for an 'extraordinary coincidence' for this not to be so. Further scrunity of Pilger's work suggest that he considers an 9/11 inside job (along the lines of the 'they let it happen' school of thinking) to be a possibility, but he does not assert that he believes that to certainly be the case.

The article should probably be extended to feature a wider representation of Pilger's writing on many subjects, not just recent events, but it should go without saying that the article should neither endorse Pilger's views nor express disagreement with them. As it stood, the article was not just misleading in part, it was heavily balanced towards critical views and read like a right-wing smear. This is supposed to be an encyclopedia, not an editorial column in the Daily Telegraph.

I took out the name of Johann Hari and replaced it with Nick Cohen as Hari has now repented of his support for the war 130.209.6.40 20:49, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Since an editor saw fit to support Pilger with another far left anti Western radical, Noam Chomspky, I have provided a little description of Chompsky for those who may not be aware of his malificance.Incorrect 18:24, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

Please keep your opinions off the main article. The user can make up their own mind as to what they think about Chomsky. Ashmoo 00:01, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

Contents 1 for the journalist John Pilger from Venezuela 2 Pilger's Soviet journalist quote 3 DVD 4 American foreign policy

[edit] for the journalist John Pilger from Venezuela

Appreciated Journalist John Pilger I have been able to read his I articulate published in HTTP://www.voltairenet.org/article139440.HTML titleholder “Chávez Threat”, and I have been able to analyze its appreciations on the realities that my country lives, in one from its visits to Caracas. Within its concepts, a social reality exists, political and economic on which initially they were the objectives of our President, but at the present moments and specially for a year to this date, the same ones, they have been varying substantially. Ever since the new Constitution has been approved, several located social promoters in several parts of the country, we have been announcing the tremendous participativos rights that all the Venezuelans have acquired by interval of the articles Nº 62, 70, 166, 182, 184 and 185. They are right participativos, decision-making protagónicos and that allow that the cogestionarias citizens can decide of way where must go to the attention of the government and the resources that are reversed in the 337 municipalities of Venezuela. They are many efforts, many fights that the Venezuelan town has given during many years, to see make specific this reality, but the President, it has not allowed that is approved the legal tools that they allow the citizens to exert those rights of sovereign, independent and absolute way. Journalist John Pilger must know that Law of Social Contraloría that it allows to exert I articulate constitutionalist Nº 62, has not been approved by the Government in seven years of use of the Constitution, must also know that Law of Citizen Participation that it allows to exert I articulate constitutionalist Nº 70, has not been approved by the Government, must also know that Law of the Federal Council of Government, sanctioned the 30 of June of the 2005, it has been vetoed by the President, additionally it must know that Law of Transference of resources to the organized communities that constitutionalist allows to exert I articulate Nº 184, not has be approved by Government and finally Journalist must to know John Pilger, that the only one I articulate constitutionalist who has been approved him his respective law, is Nº 182, that is the cogestionario organ par excellence that represents the Local Councils of Public Planning in each municipality of the country, this year the Government has changed to the essence of its content, limiting totally the autonomy of the exercise of the participation of the Venezuelan town, assuming a total control on these constitutional rights. These changes can visualize it in this dynamic presentation: HTTP://www.consejolocal.org/1/simpla.htm Journalist John Pilger, by everything what I have expressed, you can conclude that the content of his I articulate does not reflect, of objective way, the reality of Venezuela, reason why I invite to review it all our information, performances and documentations on this subject, in our page: www.consejoslocales.org also I inform to him that we are to its disposition so that can contact to us and this way to clarify any doubt to him on this individual can require. Ing. Miguel De Gregorio

spanish

Apreciado Periodista John Pilger

he podido leer su articulo publicado en http://www.voltairenet.org/article139440.html titulado 'Amenaza Chávez' y he podido analizar sus apreciaciones sobre la realidades que vive mi país, en una de sus visitas a Caracas......

Dentro de sus conceptos, existe una realidad social, política y económica sobre lo que inicialmente eran los objetivos de nuestro Presidente, pero en los actuales momentos y especialmente desde hace un año a esta fecha, las mismas, han variado sustancialmente.

Desde que se ha aprobado la nueva Constitución, varios promotores sociales ubicados en varias partes del país, hemos estado pregonando los tremendos derechos participativos que todos los venezolanos han adquiridos por intermedio de los artículos Nº 62, 70, 166, 182, 184 y 185.

Son derechos participativos, protagónicos y decisorios que permiten que los ciudadanos puedan decidir de manera cogestionarias donde debe dirigirse la atención del gobierno y los recursos que se inviertan en los 337 municipios de Venezuela.

Son muchos esfuerzos, muchas luchas que el pueblo venezolano ha dado durante muchos años, para ver concretar esta realidad, pero el Presidente, no ha permitido que se aprueben las herramientas legales que permitan a los ciudadanos ejercer esos derechos de manera soberana, autónoma y absoluta.

Periodista John Pilger debe saber que la Ley de Contraloría Social que permite ejercer el articulo constitucional Nº 62 , no ha sido aprobada por el Gobierno en siete años de vigencia de la Constitución, debe igualmente saber que la Ley de Participación Ciudadana que permite ejercer el articulo constitucional Nº 70, no ha sido aprobada por el Gobierno, debe también saber que la Ley del Consejo Federal de Gobierno, sancionada el 30 de junio del 2005, ha sido vetada por el Presidente, adicionalmente debe saber que la Ley de Transferencia de recursos a las comunidades organizadas que permite ejercer el articulo constitucional Nº 184 , no ha sido aprobada por el Gobierno y por ultimo debe saber Periodista John Pilger, que el único articulo constitucional que se le ha aprobado su respectiva ley, es el Nº 182, o sea el órgano cogestionario por excelencia que lo representa los Consejos Locales de Planificación Pública en cada municipio del país, este año el Gobierno ha cambiado la esencia de su contenido, limitando totalmente la autonomía del ejercicio de la participación del pueblo venezolano, asumiendo un control total sobre dichos derechos constitucionales.

Estos cambios lo puede visualizar en esta presentación dinámica: http://www.consejolocal.org/1/simpla.htm

Periodista John Pilger, por todo lo que he expresado, usted puede concluir que el contenido de su articulo no refleja, de manera objetiva, la realidad de Venezuela, por lo que lo invito a revisar todas nuestras informaciones, actuaciones y documentaciones sobre este tema, en nuestra pagina:

www.consejoslocales.org

igualmente le informo que estamos a si disposición para que pueda contactarnos y de esta manera aclararle cualquier duda sobre este particular pueda requerir.

Ing. Miguel De Gregorio

[edit] Pilger's Soviet journalist quote

Re the anecdote about the Soviet journalists visiting the US:

"their spokesman [said] ‘that we were astonished to find after reading all the newspapers and watching TV, that all the opinions on all the vital issues were by and large, the same. To get that result in our country, we imprison people, we tear out their fingernails. Here, you don’t have that. What’s the secret? How do you do it?’

It's such a pithy story. It so successfully sums up Pilger's critique of the Western media's role in social control.

However, has John Pilger sourced this quote? It seems so implausible that the head of a Soviet delegation would talk about the USSR Government imprisoning people and tearing out fingernails.

The cited source says it's "probably apocryphal". Nunquam Dormio 08:31, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Yes, true - interestingly, johnpilger.com suggests it happened: http://www.johnpilger.com/page.asp?partid=267 Is this significant? Does it raise issues of when it's acceptable to use 'metaphor' or 'parable'?

I'd go out on a limb and say that it's either made up or exagareted. While Pilger may have met with a delegation of journalists, this story is very hard to substantiate. There's a great number of anecdotes about Pilger bending truth and coaching interview subjects (I'm not grinding a axe here, I'm a fan of his politics.) I once met a Mirror journalist on a press trip and, having just finished Hidden Voices asked him about the essay on that paper in the book. He'd been there when Pilger was working and called him "a fucking liar" and went on to detail a number of his distortions that had been printed. The one about the street of unemployed coal miners springs to mind. This isn't evidence and it's up to wikipedia standard, but it would be sage to add "probably apocryphal" to this Pilger story.--Chuckygobyebye 14:24, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] DVD

There is a new DVD collection of his documentaries out now [1] but I am unsure where to put the details. I was thinking under the documentaries or as a separate section at the end (Emperor 17:35, 20 September 2006 (UTC))

It looks like it would belong quite naturally in the 'Works' section. There is also another DVD collection from Carlton. I will put both DVDs into the Works section. I don't know the Wikipedia template for DVDs offhand, so this may need reformatting. abdullahazzam 11:19 13/10/06

[edit] American foreign policy

"He is particularly opposed to many aspects of American foreign policy, which he regards as being driven by a largely imperialist agenda."

Although I think this is true of Pilger, I think that perhaps it should be added that he will also freely criticise greater "Western" foreign policy in general where he believes there to be an injustice. In his documentaries he will lump together "America and Britain" or "Washington, London and Geneva" for example. I think that this sentence could perhaps be amended to reflect this. Benson85 05:16, 1 February 2007 (UTC)