Re: Daniel Pearl

[Donna Halper <dlh@donnahalper.com>]

>Sean wrote--
>A few weeks ago, when we received the first reports of Mr. Pearl's death,
>Dan Billings speculated that the media may be sensationalizing the Pearl
>case since it's one of their own. While deeply saddened to hear of his
>death, and while feeling sympathy for his widow, unborn son and other family
>members, after watching CNN's coverage I am leaning more in Dan's direction.

I must disagree here.  First, if you have been reading the newspapers and 
magazines in other cities (in Boston, our media have been wall to wall 
Patriots and then wall to wall pedophile priests), you know that Mr Pearl 
was not doing a business story.  Rather, he was doing investigative 
reporting about ties between Al Qaeda and the Pakistani police/military.  I 
believe that is a very important story, since like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan 
is allegedly our ally.  Only recently has there been any investigative 
reporting about what is happening in Afghanistan (or Pakistan):  until a 
few weeks ago, we got only the Donald Rumsfeld version with no mention of 
bombs that misfired or civilian casualties or anything else.  While that is 
to be expected during a war, now some journalists are trying to find out 
more information, the Boston Globe among them, and I commend those who 
venture into war zones.  They are a courageous group, worthy of our 
respect.  Granted, investigative journalism is not the sort of thing the 
Wall Street Journal is known for, but surprisingly, every so often they do 
in-depth stories on subjects one might not expect.  There is another reason 
why I believe Mr Pearl was targeted-- and why other American journalists 
have been warned-- but I will save that for discussing in a day or two, 
since it does not pertain to this list directly.  Every time we talk 
politics, we end up in flame-wars.  I'd rather just leave it with my deep 
sorrow for ANY journalist who dies in the line of duty.  I don't think the 
average citizen has a clue how dangerous the job of a reporter can be.