John Pilger's remarks on awarding the Gellhorn prize to Julian Assange.

[EFerrari]

An Unpalatable Truth
The Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism

By John Pilger

June 03, 2011 "Information Clearing House" -- -------- London, 2 June 2011

Thank you all for coming to the 12th annual award of the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism. Some would say there are too many awards for journalism that merely celebrate the status quo. The Martha Gellhorn Prize is very different. We believe it’s the most prestigious and sought-after award for journalism in Britain because it recognises that the best journalists are subversives – because the truth is so often subversive.

Let me quote in full why we give it: “This prize is in honour of one of the 20th century’s greatest reporters. It’s awarded to a journalist whose work has penetrated the established version of events and told an unpalatable truth. It’s validated by powerful facts that expose establishment propaganda, or ‘official drivel’, as Martha Gellhorn called it.”

Martha Gellhorn, an American who settled in britain, is renowned as a war reporter. She was more than that. As both a reporter and humanitarian she was also a pioneer: one of the first in Vietnam to report what she called “a new kind of war against civilians”: a precursor to the wars of today.

She and I became good friends. All my fellow judges have that in common; we knew Martha and understood what she meant by “official drivel”. Her phone calls were memorable. She would call me very early in the morning and open up the conversation with one of her favourite expressions – “I smell a rat”.

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