Output details

John Pilger's "Youth in Action" series as literary journalism

The theoretical dimension of this study assesses John Pilger’s approach to political reporting. Despite being a highly acclaimed political reporter, he is also criticised for being excessively partisan. This study demonstrates that Pilger’s writings on foreign policy issues are guided by a journalistic standard that is in agreement with classic models of investigative and public service journalism. Secondly, it shows that professional journalists working in the news media industries are themselves subject to political biases that are masked by their formal adherence to conventions such as ‘objectivity’ and ‘balance’. The empirical part of the study analyses John Pilger’s early journalism as a foreign correspondent for the Daily Mirror in 1966. This was an extraordinary assignment allowing Pilger to travel to 47 countries over a one year period and reporting on British volunteers who worked in political hot spots. Prior to this study, the “Youth in Action” Series has not been academically assessed.