An award-winning journalist. He worked for example in newspapers like The Daily Mirror, Guardian and New Statesman.
Pilger's career as a documentary film maker began with The Quiet Mutiny (1970), made during one of his visits to Vietnam, and continued with over 50 documentaries thereafter.
Pilger won Britain's Journalist of the Year Award in 1967 and 1979.
Shortly after Pilger won the Sydney Peace Prize in 2009, the Australian conservative commentator Gerard Henderson accused Pilger of "engaging in hyperbole against western democracies".
During his work with BBC's Midweek television series during 1972-73, Pilger completed five documentary reports, but only two were broadcast.