Five years after Daniel Pearl was killed while covering a story in Pakistan, a new movie has popped up based on the story of Pearl’s wife.
Besides the bright lights of Hollywood shining down on this tragedy, I’ve seen scholarships, books, and who knows what else all about and/or named after Daniel Pearl.
Each one claiming to pay tribute to him in one way or another.
Or are they really just using his name to promote their companies and their products?
Daniel Pearl didn’t just die because he was captured by a group of terrorists, he was killed because he was covering a story for a newspaper.
One has to wonder whether or not he was protected by security or bodyguards when he went to meet with his “source” that promised him a big scoop.
More than likely he had no protection, which is why we are talking about THE LATE Daniel Pearl.
Of course, journalism has never been a “safe” profession. Never has been, never will be.
But, just maybe, there could be ways to make it safer for journalists, especially for those who are on the front lines of war AND for those who are in places of turmoil.
Wouldn’t it be great if those same newspapers and media outlets that send their reporters and photographers out in dangerous places . . . wouldn’t it be great if they could TAKE SOME OF THEIR COMPANY’S PROFITS AND HIRE PROTECTION FOR THEIR REPORTERS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS?
Of course, many newspapers and other media outlets force their workers to work overtime for many long hours, and most often they work unpaid overtime. And of course, making workers work overtime constantly probably isn’t safe or healthy after a while, and unpaid overtime is against the law. However, I’m not writing about that. The upshot is that I’m writing about journalists who are on the front lines of dangerous areas of the world.
I’m also talking about the 110 journalists and media assistants who were killed in 2006 (Source: Reporters Without Borders)
The best way to pay tribute to Daniel Pearl is not by using his name to promote newspapers, movies, scholarships and who knows what else — the best way to pay tribute to him is BY MAKING IT SAFER FOR JOURNALISTS ON THE FRONT LINES. That way, just maybe, we will not have any more tragedies like the one with Daniel Pearl
I read someone somewhere writing about how there should be more Daniel Pearls in the world.
I hope not.
We already lost quite a few journalists in the past few years. Hopefully, we will not lose any more in the same way Daniel Pearl died.
Making journalists and their jobs safer would be a real tribute to Daniel Pearl.