He awoke the world to great injustices

Journalist's decades of brilliance

-  JESSICA BOULTON and NICK WEBSTER

TO many, he is the greatest Mirror man ever- a journalistic legend who fought injustice, exposed the horrors of war and held power to account all his life.

John Pilger was feet from Robert F Kennedy when he was assassinated, the first into Cambodia to reveal the genocide by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge, and an unwavering supporter of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Yesterday, it was announced Pilger died on Saturday, aged 84. His family said: "His journalism and documentaries were celebrated around the world, but to his family he was simply the most amazing and loved Dad, Grandad and partner. Rest in peace.

After six decades of reporting, he was a campaigner until the end.

In his last published piece, he called on everyone to speak up to authority.

He said: "The Palestinians are Spartacus. People who fill the streets with flags and principle... are Spartacus.

We are all Spartacus if we want to be." His belief in the power of honest journalism to expose uncomfortable truths was the bedrock of his unrivalled award-winning career.

He was a feature writer, war correspondent and chief foreign correspondent at the Daily Mirror.

He also worked on investigative ITV programme World in Action. He went on to write for papers around the world, penned books and made dozens of documentaries including The Dirty War on the NHS, in 2019.

Daily Mirror Editor Alison Phillips said: "He was most likely the greatest of all Mirror men. He believed in journalism with purpose and its power to change the world.