What is your opinion of John Pilger?

[Orrex]

I'm not very familiar with his work, though a brief search of DU reveals that he's apparently quite well respected.

I ask, because on my commute to work this morning I caught most of a 30-minute segment on Alternative Radio in which Pilger railed against the foreign policy and media practices of The West (i.e., the UK & the US), while speaking favorably of Putin and the Kremlin.

He talked at length about Fake News, and every one of his examples was a mainstream publication, exactly the kind called out as "fake news" by Trump. And he had nothing bad to say about Trump.

He called out the Obama-led US coup in Ukraine and the Obama-led holocaust in Syria, while painting Putin as a beleaguered peacemaker held back by aggressive US hegemony.

As noted above, I'm not very familiar with Pilger, so is this his usual routine? To laud noble Russia while dismissing US media as a willing patsy of the endlessly evil US government?

His wiki page includes this Trump-loving excerpt:

In a February 2016 webchat on the website of The Guardian newspaper, Pilger said "Trump is speaking straight to ordinary Americans". Although his opinions about immigration were "gross", Pilger wrote that they are "no more gross in essence than, say, David Cameron's – he is not planning to invade anywhere, he doesn't hate the Russians or the Chinese, he is not beholden to Israel. People like this lack of cant, and when the so-called liberal media deride him, they like him even more".[88] In March 2016, Pilger commented in a speech delivered at the University of Sydney during the American Presidential Election, that Donald Trump was a less dangerous potential President of the United States than Hillary Clinton.[89]

In August 2017, in an article published on his website, Pilger wrote about Trump again. "A coup against the man in the White House is under way. This is not because he is an odious human being, but because he has consistently made clear he does not want war with Russia. This glimpse of sanity, or simple pragmatism, is anathema to the 'national security' managers who guard a system based on war, surveillance, armaments, threats and extreme capitalism". According to Pilger, The Guardian has published "drivel" in covering the claims "that the Russians conspired with Trump". Such assertions, he writes, are "reminiscent of the far-right smearing of John Kennedy as a 'Soviet agent'".

Pilger's narrative was eerily similar to one by Michael Cohen, also aired on Alternative Radio, which I discussed here a year ago. The broad strokes were the same: America (and Obama) bad; Russia (and Putin) good. And if Russia is bad about something, it's only because the US forced it to be bad, because the US is worse. Oh, and we get the same "Trump's ok" message in both...

Incidentally, this morning's broadcast was the second half of a two part program, the first of which aired last week. That one was an hour-long talk by Julian Assange, in which Assange also railed against the dangers of fake news (by which he means, of course, mainstream media).

The sentiment on DU, judging from the posts I've read, is that Pilger is widely respected. I want to accept that assessment, but I'm troubled by the conspicuously pro-Trump and pro-Russia sentiment underlying this morning's segment.

What is your opinion?

[wasupaloopa]

1. I don't know of him but I can see trump with my own eyes and don't need to listen to

or read someone like Pilger.

It is obvious that trump cares only about himself and to give him any credibility in the area of something like foreign policy is ignorant.

My guess is Pilger has an agenda because anyone with half a brain would not be saying what he is saying.

[hlthe2b]

2. I am wary of anyone promoting Putin, Trump, or Russia in general

Even my once much-beloved, Thom Hartmann, (who, if anyone, gets the most benefit-of-the-doubt from me)-- but geebus Thom, questioning why Chelsey Manning's campaign is not getting more attention by the media? Continuing to get primary funding from RT? (Yes, I understand it is a "licensing" agreement and allows use of the studios, but damn, it really doesn't look good)

Still, I question anyone in today's climate, becoming overly sympathetic to issues related to Trump, Russia, Putin, Wikileaks or anything else related.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

3. I remember his name being bandied about during the 2014 Ukrainian crisis

He was a favorite of those who echoed the Russian media line on the story, which was that the February 2014 Maidan protests and revolution was a “coup” sponsored by the United States.

He provided little if any evidence to back that claim up.

Needless to say, I am not a fan.

[Orrex]

4. Curiously...

When I search DU for "John Pilger," some of the comments that come up are "Pilger tells the truth," "Truth cuts like a knife," "Pilger is a brilliant journalist fighting against evil. Evil hates him," and the like.

Upon further digging, I note that Pilger was a favorite of a catapulter of conspiracy theories who seems to have disappeared from DU lately. (And I see that you yourself called him out several times in a pro-Pilger thread a few years ago. Bravo!)

Happily, a few others in those threads had the same impression that Pilger gave me this morning: that in his worldview the US and UK are bad, and other so-called dictators and fascists are super-duper!

[wishstar]

5. He tried to spread mistrust of President Obama and Hillary Clinton, while favoring RT and Assange

I would guess most DU'ers have never heard of the guy (since he is Australian and not American) unless they have political leanings that are pro-Assange, pro-RT and anti-Clinton, anti- Obama and anti-Democratic Party establishment and considered Trump a better alternative than Hillary Clinton. He has spread over-the-top accusations that Pres. Obama has led us into fascism and extreme criticisms against Hillary Clinton while never calling out authoritarian and corrupt abuses of Putin or dangers to democracy from Trump.

[Orrex]

6. Sounds about right, based on what I heard today.

Thanks!

[yardwork]

7. Good questions.

[WhiteTara]

8. Lovers of strong men and haters of

majority rule seem to run through their ranks. If he's promoting Assange, he lost his creds in my book.