Global Research

“To my mind, he exists now alongside I.F. Stone, Drew Pearson, George Seldes, Gary Webb, and others as seekers of truth at the steep price you seem to have to pay to follow your common sense and your integrity when they are in direct opposition to the tyranny of mainstream media conformity.” – Film-maker Oliver Stone [1]

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On Saturday January 27th, Robert Parry, whose stories in the 1980s shook a nation, quietly and unceremoniously passed away, finally succumbing to a long-standing bout with previously undiagnosed pancreatic cancer. He was 68. [2]

According to his family, tributes and mournful condolences from every corner of the country and the political spectrum have come flooding in. The New York Times and the Washington Post, along with Jim Naureckas of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, Jon Schwartz of The Intercept, Katrina Vanden Heuvel of The Nation, Michael Tracey of the Young Turks, independent journalist Caitlin Johnstone, film-maker Oliver Stone, and vlogger Ryan Johnson, among others have chimed in with their praise of the man, and their recognition of Parry within the fixture of world class investigative journalists. [3]

Bob Parry, of course, is best known for his ground-breaking reporting exposing the Iran-Contra affair, the Reagan-era scandal involving the illicit sale of arms to Iran and use of the proceeds to fund the Contra rebel army in Nicaragua. He also played a key role, along with colleague Brian Barger, in probing the trafficking of cocaine by those same Nicaraguan Contras. This research provided the bedrock for Senator John Kerry’s congressional investigation in 1986, as well as Gary Webb’s later investigations into the drug trafficking networks both in Nicaragua and Los Angeles. [4]

Unfortunately, following Reagan’s departure from high office, Parry’s diligent and persistent efforts to probe the underpinnings of the Reagan-Bush administration met with increasing disapproval from within establishment media circles. Parry’s determination to follow the documentary trail detailing the Reagan campaign’s sabotaging of the Carter administration’s negotiations during the Iranian hostage crisis cost him a more lucrative future within mainstream journalism. [5]

Robert Parry’s main journalistic vehicle became the online investigative platform known as the Consortium for Independent Journalism found at consortiumnews.com. The site has provided both reporters and news consumers access to analysis daring to counter Washington ‘Groupthink’ as Parry has called it.

The choice of inconvenient truths over conventional mainstream narratives can marginalize even the most professional and brilliant journalists as Robert Parry had come to discover first hand.

On this week’s Global Research News Hour, we review some of the highlights of this intrepid journalist’s career with figures that have known, worked with, and admired him for many years. We also air part of one of his last interviews, conducted less than a month before his first stroke.

John Pilger is an Australian-born journalist and documentary film-maker. As a chief foreign correspondent he covered numerous wars, including, most notably, the Vietnam War. He has contributed to BBC, ABC Television, Al Jazeera, and Russia Today, as well as The Guardian, New Statesman, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Nation, and The Sydney Morning Herald, among others. Pilger presented the Martha Gillhorn Prize for Journalism to Robert Parry in June of 2017. His site is johnpilger.com.

Ray McGovern served in Washington as an Army infantry/intelligence officer and then served as a CIA analyst for 27 years. He served under Presidents Kennedy through H.W. Bush, chairing National Intelligence Estimates and preparing the President’s Daily Brief. Ray Mcgovern co-founded Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity and has been a regular contributor to consortiumnews.com.

Nat Parry is one of Robert Parry’s four children, and based in Copenhagen, Denmark. He composed a stirring tribute to his father on the consortiumnews.com website, at which he has assumed duties as an editor.

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Support independent journalism! In addition to donating to consortiumnews.com, please also consider a donation to CKUW 95.9FM, the radio station which hosts the Global Research News Hour during our annual fund-raising drive. Make your donation today at fundrive.ckuw.ca. Also consider donating to Global Research.

The Global Research News Hour airs every Friday at 1pm CT on CKUW 95.9FM in Winnipeg. The programme is also podcast at globalresearch.ca . The show can be heard on the Progressive Radio Network at prn.fm. Listen in everyThursday at 6pm ET.

Community Radio Stations carrying the Global Research News Hour:

CHLY 101.7fm in Nanaimo, B.C – Thursdays at 1pm PT

Boston College Radio WZBC 90.3FM NEWTONS  during the Truth and Justice Radio Programming slot -Sundays at 7am ET.

Port Perry Radio in Port Perry, Ontario –1  Thursdays at 1pm ET

Burnaby Radio Station CJSF out of Simon Fraser University. 90.1FM to most of Greater Vancouver, from Langley to Point Grey and from the North Shore to the US Border.

It is also available on 93.9 FM cable in the communities of SFU, Burnaby, New Westminister, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Surrey and Delta, in British Columbia, Canada. – Tune in  at its new time – Wednesdays at 4pm PT.

Radio station CFUV 101.9FM based at the University of Victoria airs the Global Research News Hour every Sunday from 7 to 8am PT.

CORTES COMMUNITY RADIO CKTZ  89.5 out of Manson’s Landing, B.C airs the show Tuesday mornings at 10am Pacific time.

Cowichan Valley Community Radio CICV 98.7 FM serving the Cowichan Lake area of Vancouver Island, BC airs the program Thursdays at 6am pacific time.

Campus and community radio CFMH 107.3fm in  Saint John, N.B. airs the Global Research News Hour Fridays at 10am.

Caper Radio CJBU 107.3FM in Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia airs the Global Research News Hour starting Wednesday Morning from 8:00 to 9:00am. Find more details at www.caperradio.ca

RIOT RADIO, the visual radio station based out of Durham College in Oshawa, Ontario has begun airing the Global Research News Hour on an occasional basis. Tune in at dcstudentsinc.ca/services/riot-radio/

Notes:

1. https://www.facebook.com/TheOliverStone/posts/1810015752356049
2. https://consortiumnews.com/2018/01/28/robert-parrys-legacy-and-the-future-of-consortiumnews/
3. https://consortiumnews.com/2018/02/01/outpouring-of-support-honors-robert-parry/
4. https://consortiumnews.com/2018/01/28/robert-parrys-legacy-and-the-future-of-consortiumnews/
5. ibid