Nicky Hager, New Zealand, is an independent investigative reporter and writer. He has specialized in investigating military and intelligence agencies, and undemocratic political tactics employed by governments and corporations.
There is an archive of his books and major articles on his website. His book "Secret Power"(1996) revealed the Western surveillance system known as Echelon, an early version of the systems revealed by Edward Snowden. Based on interviews with intelligence officers and fieldwork in several countries, the book led to a year-long European Parliament investigation into Echelon.
His book "Secrets and Lies, The Anatomy of an Anti-Environmental PR Campaign" (1999) was based on hundreds of leaked internal PR papers and documented the techniques used by PR companies to manufacture political influence and undermine their clients’ opponents. His book "Seeds of Distrust, the Story of a GE Cover-Up" (2002) uncovered the activities of multinational companies putting pressure on New Zealand over genetic engineering; and the 2006 book "The Hollow Men, a study in the politics of deception" was a detailed exposé of three years of politics within New Zealand’s conservative National Party. The book revealed the activities of the unseen actors in politics – political advisers, media spin doctors, contract strategists and pollsters and industry lobbyists – and led to the resignation of the party leader on the day the book was released.
His fifth book, "Other People's Wars" (2011), based on thousands of leaked New Zealand military and intelligence reports, described ten years of New Zealand and allies in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Next, "Dirty Politics" (2014) revealed a secret campaign of social media attacks and smears coordinated from the prime minister's office against its political opponents and also – on behalf of the tobacco, alcohol and sugary foods industries – against public health professionals.
His most recent book, "Hit and Run" (2017), documents apparent war crimes by New Zealand special forces in Afghanistan, including civilian deaths and mistreatment of prisoners.
