PEARL High School Journalists Work Together From Around the World
Fresh from their online training experience, high-school age PEARL Certified Reporters for the PEARL World Youth News are writing on topics as widespread as the countries where they live. Sarah Tull (U.K.) wrote about climate change; Yaroslav Ovcharenko (Uzbekistan) shared his experiences at a journalism camp; Nguyen Long (Vietnam) explained how teens in Vietnam are turning away from the traditional New Year; and Heather Vale (U.S.) told of the MySpace internet phenomenon. All worked via the internet with student journalists from other countries for editorial feedback and research work.

PEARL World Youth News is a unique student news service developed through a partnership with the International Education and Research Network (iEARN). Supported by a network of more than 20,000 schools in 109 countries, high school students write collaboratively, serving as correspondents for school newspapers around the world. By encouraging this kind of cross-cultural communication, the Foundation hopes to forge a new generation of unbiased reporters and world citizens.

Daniel Pearl Fellow Defends East-West Cooperative Training
2005 Daniel Pearl Fellow Walid Al-Saqaf recently spoke out against the Arab Journalists Union's decision to reject training and assistance in journalism from Western and non-Arab media. Walid called the decision outrageous, saying "This merely represents a common stance by many totalitarian regimes, which work to diminish the influence of the Arab media, particularly the free media, in any way.” We are proud that the experience Walid obtained as a Daniel Pearl Fellow working at the Wall Street Journal, Washington Bureau, provided him with the skills and courage to offer journalism workshops in his native Yemen in the face of opposition from isolationists. This Daniel Pearl Fellowship is run in partnership with the Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships.

This year our 2006 Daniel Pearl Fellows are Ghanashyam Ojha of Nepal and Shahid Shah of Pakistan. Ghanashyam began his journey by writing his impressions of America. His first article, U.S. Brings Surprises in First Weeks, will be part of an ongoing series written for The Advocate, The Berkshire Eagle and North Adams Transcript, where Daniel Pearl started his career. Shahid Shah is working at the Washington bureau of the Wall Street Journal; his first article, G-7 Ministers Warn of Risks to Global Growth, was published on April 21.

Los Angeles Press Club Announces Daniel Pearl Award Winner
On June 24, this year’s Daniel Pearl Courage and Integrity in Journalism award will go to freelance correspondent Kevin Sites, whose reporting for CNN and NBC, as well as his “In the Hot Zone” blog and videos on Yahoo News, have provided millions of viewers with insight into the lives of everyday people in the world’s most violent areas. Past recipients include the late Michael Kelly, who died while on assignment in Iraq, Michael Weisskopf and Jim Nachtwey of Time Magazine and Jesus Bancornelas, editor of Mexico’s leading investigative newspaper, Zeta.

Documentary on Daniel Pearl Premieres
“The Journalist and the Jihadi: The Murder of Daniel Pearl,” a documentary that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, will be shown by HBO on October 10, on what would have been Danny’s 43rd birthday