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RIP John Pilger

I am not sure if we will ever see another John Pilger, because the world is so different now. We are saturated with mass media. There are many reports about all sorts of horrific things all over the world, but these reports seem to me to have less impact, because there are so many of them.
 
The accusations of 'genocide denial' against Noam Chomsky have no basis in fact, neither did the accusations that Chomsky was 'pro-Khymer Rouge'. These are smears, no doubt because he is anti-NATO and anti-US imperialism (and rightly so). I imagine it is much the same with similar accusations made against John Pilger. Hmmm, smears against someone for being against the political status-quo - seems familiar doesn't it.

This Libcom article explains things, and they are not the only ones to have also noticed this smear campaign

Smearing Chomsky - The Guardian in the gutter

On October 31, the Guardian published an interview with Noam Chomsky by Emma Brockes, 'The greatest intellectual?' (The Guardian, October 31, 2005).
libcom.org libcom.org
 
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GroovySunday said:
The accusations of 'genocide denial' against Noam Chomsky have no basis in fact, neither did the accusations that Chomsky was 'pro-Khymer Rouge'. These are smears, no doubt because he is anti-NATO. I imagine it is much the same with similar accusations made against John Pilger. Hmmm, smears against someone for being against the political status-quo -seems familiar doesn't it.

This Libcom article explains things, and they are not the only ones to have also noticed this smear campaign

Smearing Chomsky - The Guardian in the gutter

On October 31, the Guardian published an interview with Noam Chomsky by Emma Brockes, 'The greatest intellectual?' (The Guardian, October 31, 2005).
libcom.org libcom.org
Click to expand...
.
 
littlebabyjesus said:
Was a big influence on me when I was younger. The way he managed to get his point of view across on mainstream media like ITV and The Mirror was remarkable.

He wasn't always right, no. Who is?
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The39thStep said:
To start with where he ended up is to simply dismiss, unintentionally or intentionally, decades of brilliant, fearless and most importantly accessible journalism. He and Paul Foot at the Mirror were a combination you would never see these days, in fact, wouldn't have seen in the last couple of decades. Both had an audience in print, media and live at meetings and rallies which would the envy of what ever passes as today's left. His film on Palestine is still so very relevant.

By all means, write off his later stuff but the majority of his output was outstanding and inspirational .
Click to expand...

Undoubtedly this.

Brilliant people can lose their way for all sorts of reasons. Doesn't negate their previous contributions.
 
GroovySunday said:
The accusations of 'genocide denial' against Noam Chomsky have no basis in fact, neither did the accusations that Chomsky was 'pro-Khymer Rouge'. These are smears, no doubt because he is anti-NATO (and rightly so). I imagine it is much the same with similar accusations made against John Pilger. Hmmm, smears against someone for being against the political status-quo -seems familiar doesn't it.

This Libcom article explains things, and they are not the only ones to have also noticed this smear campaign

Smearing Chomsky - The Guardian in the gutter

On October 31, the Guardian published an interview with Noam Chomsky by Emma Brockes, 'The greatest intellectual?' (The Guardian, October 31, 2005).
libcom.org libcom.org
Click to expand...

I’m not going to spoil a thread where people are remembering someone who they admire. That Chomsky obfuscated, bullshitted, wrung his hands and amplified denialist voices on what happened in Srebrenica is simple historical record.

Pilger signed the same letter amplifying Johnson's denialist horseshit.

I get that it’s uncomfortable reading for anarchist fanboys but the record is pretty clear.

To say that the record of both in downplaying the crimes of ethic Serb genocidaires and engaging in ‘but America also does bad things’ whataboutery, an utterly shameful and self-centering distortion in the blood of others, is what’s ‘lacking any basis in fact’.

Won’t comment again on this, sorry for final derail.
 
steeplejack said:
I’m not going to spoil a thread where people are remembering someone who they admire. That Chomsky obfuscated, bullshitted, wrung his hands and amplified denialist voices on what happened in Srebrenica is simple historical record.

Pilger signed the same letter amplifying Johnson's denialist horseshit.

I get that it’s uncomfortable reading for anarchist fanboys but the record is pretty clear.

To say that the record of both in downplaying the crimes of ethic Serb genocidaires and engaging in ‘but America also does bad things’ whataboutery, an utterly shameful and self-centering distortion in the blood of others, is what’s ‘lacking any basis in fact’.

Won’t comment again on this, sorry for final derail.
Click to expand...

Admiring the phrase 'anarchist fanboys'
 
steeplejack said:
I’m not going to spoil a thread where people are remembering someone who they admire. That Chomsky obfuscated, bullshitted, wrung his hands and amplified denialist voices on what happened in Srebrenica is simple historical record.

Pilger signed the same letter amplifying Johnson's denialist horseshit.

I get that it’s uncomfortable reading for anarchist fanboys but the record is pretty clear.

To say that the record of both in downplaying the crimes of ethic Serb genocidaires and engaging in ‘but America also does bad things’ whataboutery, an utterly shameful and self-centering distortion in the blood of others, is what’s ‘lacking any basis in fact’.

Won’t comment again on this, sorry for final derail.
Click to expand...
Absolute nonsense, as detailed in the link I provided. This is likely pro-NATO lies.
 
He did some good stuff and I enjoyed reading some of his books, picked up from second hand book stores in London years after they were published.

But fucking hell he had some bad takes later on.

That's the problem with being in his industry, it's all about takes all the way down and eventually you'll fuck it up.
 
steeplejack said:
Nah, you're some sort of banned / flounced returner who's taken a break from solitary cry-wanking on Hogmanay to try and get a rise out of folk on here. I don't think ypu've even read your own link which isn't a rebuttal of anything.
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You're clearly a dishonest, stupid, narrow-minded hack, stuck with copious amounts of confirmation bias and no real understanding of anything.

And so much for you 'not commenting again'
 
steeplejack said:
Pilger signed the same letter amplifying Johnson's denialist horseshit.
Click to expand...
I think we need to be a little careful about condemning people for signing their names to letters supporting the right of someone to publish something. I don't know what Pilger's take on free speech was but I do know Chomsky's and he is typically American about it - he defends a much broader freedom of speech than, for example, most people on Urban75 would support.

This is what the letter said:

We regard Diana Johnstone's Fools' Crusade as an outstanding work, dissenting from the mainstream view but doing so by an appeal to fact and reason, in a great tradition
Click to expand...

The 'great tradition' they refer to includes the opportunity for robust refutation of anything in the book by anyone who cares to refute it.
 
teqniq said:
He was great back in the day regarding Vietnam etc. But then he completely lost his way. I'll just leave this here:

threadreaderapp.com

Thread by @grannies4equal on Thread Reader App

@grannies4equal: Extraordinary to see the gushing praise for John Pilger Has nobody read or listened to him for the past 30 yrs while he denied genocides, aided & abetted dictators, spread their lies, punched down o...…
threadreaderapp.com threadreaderapp.com
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“NATO now completely surrounds Russia in the west”. Was that untrue?
 
steeplejack said:
Nah, you're some sort of banned / flounced returner who's taken a break from solitary cry-wanking on Hogmanay to try and get a rise out of folk on here. I don't think ypu've even read your own link which isn't a rebuttal of anything.
Click to expand...
Yes you clearly know a great deal about me don't you. What a bizarre comment and what a strange individual you must be.
 
PTK said:
I am not sure if we will ever see another John Pilger, because the world is so different now. We are saturated with mass media. There are many reports about all sorts of horrific things all over the world, but these reports seem to me to have less impact, because there are so many of them.
Click to expand...
Pilger was one of the few real journalists around. Definitely not many like him any longer.
 
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