The University of Lincoln is to create and maintain the archive of renowned journalist John Pilger. The plans were officially unveiled by John Tulloch, the head of the Lincoln School of Journalism (LSJ), on Monday, before a discussion between Mr Pilger and Professor Richard Keeble of the School.
The university is also supporting the re-launch and re-design of JohnPilger.com. Professor Tulloch said that the archive would be a “fairly momentous thing to nudge into the public domain”.
Mr Pilger said that he “felt [his website] needed to become a much deeper archive”. The resource is expected to take about a year to develop, and he called it “quite an operation”, noting that “there are 60-odd films, all of which will be available on the website”.
“[It] needed to be something that students could access that would be across the whole spectrum of journalism teaching, and journalism itself, whilst remaining a very active [and] vibrant website.”
Professor Tulloch said: “We want it to be a wonderful, unique, world-beating academic archive of the work of one of the greatest journalists.”
“John was generous enough to say last year that the [LSJ] had been a sort of beacon in terms of teaching, thinking, theorising, educating people in journalism, [and] celebrating the best journalism… We think that the archive, and what John is doing for is, is going to double our candle power.”
Mr Pilger said that Lincoln “seems to exemplify the kind of university I wish to be associated with. He said the remarks of Mike Saks, senior pro vice-chancellor at the university, about “following a human rights agenda… is very encouraging to me.”
“I’ve always felt, standing in front of young journalists, if I can convince them of one thing, that they are there to represent people, not those who wish to control people. That’s incredibly important. It’s usually the other way round… I feel it isn’t here. That has encouraged me enormously.”
Professor Richard Keeble of the LSJ said that they “are extremely thrilled that John Pilger should wish to be identified in this way with the university, as the most acclaimed journalist of his generation.”
“[It] reflects the standing of the journalism school, both within the academy and industry. The existence of [his] website on the university’s site will ad even more prestige to our ever growing activities.”
The re-development of Mr Pilger’s website is being undertaken by BrandFour, a web design company who have recruited many University of Lincoln graduates.