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News and current affairs - The War You Don't See
ITV1 London, Tuesday 14 December 10:35pm - 12:25am
Revered documentarist John Pilger changes focus slightly here. His ongoing theme of injustices perpetrated by our foreign policy, and the lies told to keep us in the dark, always carries with it a critique of the media for not exposing the truth. But now, reporters are his specific target. Pilger's thesis is that uncomfortable facts, such as the extent of civilian casualties, are not part of a mainstream media narrative instead dominated by officialdom's talk of "spreading democracy", "fighting terror" and so on. The film argues that this censorship by omission dates back to the First World War. Journalists who are now on the outside looking in, including Rageh Omaar (now of Al Jazeera) and CBS's Dan Rather, speak about the pressure they worked under; Julian Assange of Wikileaks likens modern whistleblowers to the conscientious objectors of previous wars; and BBC and ITV news chiefs face Pilger's admirably direct questioning. Conventional wisdom about modern warfare comes under a sustained assault.
VIDEO Plus+: 97993375
Subtitled, Widescreen, High definition
Directed by: John Pilger, Alan Lowery
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