Al Jazeera’s Listening Post talks with award winning documentary filmmaker and war correspondent, John Pilger about the failure of Western establishment media to accurately inform the people.
From his very first documentary about the Vietnam War, he has been challenging convention and changing opinion. His irreverent coverage has not only held Western powers to account but also the journalistic complacency, ignorance or inability that many argue, allowed the Bush and Blair governments to go to war, ostensibly unchallenged.
His latest film, The War You Don’t See is no exception. It questions the media’s role in the lead up to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It also questions the coverage we seeing today on Iran and asks whether those mistakes are being repeated. It is a fascinating film and perfect Listening Post fodder. We sat down with Pilger to discuss the film, the media and get his take on the WikiLeaks phenomenon.
Contributing to Western views of the Arab world is a questionable translation organization, “…Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an organisation set up in the US that specialises in providing translations of Arabic-language broadcasts”.
Pilger interviews Julian Assange
