John Pilger, Australian journalist and documentary filmmaker, dies aged 84: Heartbroken family pay tribute to ‘the most amazing and loved Dad, Grandad and partner’

Australian journalist John Pilger, who spent most of his professional life in Britain for publications including the Daily Mirror, has died aged 84.

Mr. Pilger, who made his name as a foreign correspondent, covered some of the most important world events of the 20th century, including the Vietnam War and the death of Dr. Martin Luther King in the United States.

However, he was known for his reporting on Cambodia in the aftermath of the reign of fierce dictator Pol Pot, which he covered for the Mirror and later for the documentary Year Zero: The Silent Death of Cambodia.

The film chronicled the bombing of Cambodia by the United States in the 1970s – a scandal that had been kept hidden by the public – and the brutality of Pot's regime.

He also produced a documentary about the victims of Britain's thalidomide scandal, in which pregnant mothers given the drug gave birth to deformed children who were left out of a legal settlement by the producers.

Mr Pilger's acclaimed reporting has seen him send dispatches from around the world to the Daily Mirror for more than 20 years.

John Pilger poses outside the premiere of his film Utopia in Sydney, Australia in January 2014

His family announced his passing on his official profile on X, formerly Twitter, calling him “the most amazing and beloved father, grandfather and partner.”

Announcing his death on X, formerly Twitter, his family said he was “simply the most wonderful and beloved father, grandfather and partner.”

The statement read: 'It is with great sadness that the family of John Pilger announce that he passed away yesterday on December 30, 2023 in London at the age of 84.

'His journalism and documentaries were celebrated around the world, but to his family he was simply the most wonderful and beloved father, grandfather and partner. Rest in peace.'

Throughout his career he was highly critical of Western foreign policy, as well as the treatment of indigenous people in his native Australia.

Pilger was born in Bondi, Sydney in 1939 and became interested in journalism at an early age. He produced his first newspaper at Sydney High School.

He left Australia in the 1960s for Europe. He first traveled to Italy before working at the Reuters news agency in London. He then joined the Daily Mirror and became chief foreign correspondent, covering earth-shattering stories from around the world.

Due to his work in Cambodia after the fall of Pol Pot's regime, the Mirror devoted almost an entire issue to his breathless reporting.

Pilger later turned to documentary filmmaking, focusing primarily on Australia, with films such as The Secret Country, The Last Dream, Welcome To Australia and Utopia, all of which explored the indigenous people of his home country.

Year Zero, his Cambodian documentary, was credited with raising millions of dollars in international aid for the country after the Khmer Rouge regime crumbled.

Elsewhere, Pilger reported for the BBC, Granada Television and ITN in the United Kingdom and ABC Television in Australia, and wrote a regular column for the New Statesman magazine for more than twenty years.

His awards include an Emmy and a BAFTA, as well as a Royal Television Society award for best documentary.

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