By Samba Yonga, Street News Service
Having faced one of the most unimaginable challenges in her
life, Mariane Pearl has come to symbolize hope and courage for humankind across
the world. Her life was thrust into the limelight from behind the keys of her
computer when her husband, and father-to-be of their unborn child, Daniel Pearl
was kidnapped and killed by a Pakistan militant Islamic fundamentalist group in
2002.
At the time of Daniel Pearl’s murder he was a journalist and
the bureau chief of the Wall Street Journal in Pakistan. Daniel and Mariane
were quite an unbeatable couple; both were experienced journalists and were
committed to their jobs. Since the
incident, Mariane has taken what they shared together and put it toward
fighting for humanity in a world she describes as becoming more bereft of any
kind of consideration for the value of life.
She published “A Mighty Heart” in 2003, a memoir and
detailed look into the investigation of her husband’s kidnapping. When the idea
to make it into a film came about, she asked Angelina Jolie to play her
character. She recently published her second book “In Search of Hope,” is a
regular contributor to The New York Times, Glamour and The Sunday Times of
London, and is currently working on several new journalistic projects.
Mariane Pearl spoke at the Thomson Reuters Foundation Trust
Women Conference in London in December.
Samba Yonga: You have become an international
role model — how have you taken this on in your life?
Mariane Pearl: I think like a lot of people who
have gone through difficulties, you embrace whatever is your life. You know, I
was not born the day my husband died. I think my previous experiences — I lost
my father very early — and I think having quality values as a person early on
in life, so I’m very thankful for that. I think when you when go through
difficulties the thing that you really need to have is a solid set of values to
walk on as your firm ground. If you have that, then you view your experiences
as part of the human condition and create values out of it the best you can,
and that is what I did.”
S.Y.: How have your experiences
changed the way you approach and write stories?
M.P.: To tell you the truth, I am finding
something very creepy in journalism today. I feel it’s just worsening. You
know, as we go into the different crises, there is a certain loss of values. I
am working more and more with journalists in the developing world. I’m thankful
for that. I want to work with journalists who know why they are journalists and
know what they are fighting for because I feel that fascination and hunger for
misery, for other people’s misery; the fascination for violence and graphic
description of violence: it’s really creepy and we are not addressing it the
way we should. I think there is something not right about that and I wonder
where it’s going to go.
And as the budgets are being cut, we are not having balance.
We are going to have things that are only dedicated to showing how horrible
things can be. I went to the World Press Photo Exhibition and I was shocked.
The World Press Photo was just a display of extreme violence, so what are we
saying there? It’s a reflection — the World Press Photography is supposed to
reflect a year of life. How come no one is saying what is wrong with that? It’s
a perversion.
I never entered journalism because I am fascinated by
violence or war or conflict, the only interest I have ever had in journalism is
my interest in human beings. You know I have always found human beings
fascinating, as I have always found the world. I have been mesmerized by the
complexity of the world, so I entered journalism and I found that the
profession is making it more and more simplistic. So I thought that doesn’t
work, and I decided that I would do it. I mean, I have very tough standards for
myself. I am not going to get into the whole exhibitionist thing, I’m going to
do what I feel is right. I just think journalism is a super important part of
our society. I have already lost a lot to journalism and given a lot to
journalism.
S.Y.: Do you think journalism is moving
away from concentrating on human welfare or are journalists moving toward it?
M.P.: The impression is that journalists
themselves have got to move away from the industry. There is a divorce here
between the business of journalism and the journalist. I think there are tons
of individuals that are really committed. There is no lack of people with
individual values, but they can’t find a home in the newspapers or the industry
as it is today, so I think the industry is suffering. With things like social
media we are going to have to find new models on which to express our
relationships with the world and our work. We haven’t found it yet, but I think
that there is a divorce there and there is no home.
I’m nostalgic for something that I have not even known. I
would have loved to have a home, a journalism home with a tough editor that
everybody loves, that will push me and we will fight. I would have loved that.
I see that in movies and I’m like ‘Oh my God, I would have loved that.’ But I
think it was for the generation before me. But I don’t think that is going to
be the model anymore. I think we are going to have to find other ways and move
on, but the transition is difficult.
S.Y.: Since your last book “A Mighty
Heart” you’ve written a book about people who have inspired you. What is it
about and why do they inspire you?
M.P.: I have become very interested in women so
I decided to write a book about women. When I started traveling I saw how much
women carry the burden of the world in a quiet unrecognized way and how, as a
result, they were incredible agents of change: how much they knew; how much
wisdom they had, how much courage, how much empathy. Women, I thought, were a
sure way to invest my energy because I have seen it, it has nothing to do with
which continent, which culture; it is the same incredible effort being repeated
over and over again. I thought that this was something which would help the
efforts of women worldwide.
S.Y.: Can you tell me a bit more about
the media work you wish to see in places such as Africa?
M.P.: Finally, we are out of the era where you
send correspondents to go and spend two days in Africa and cover Africa. Now we
are going to have generations emerge from Africa, from Asia, and people are
finally going to have their own voice, so I’m part of that movement to help.
I’m so happy to be a part of that with Thomson Reuters (Mariane is involved in
leading African training programs through the Thomson Reuters Foundation). It
is the first time in history that it’s really going to happen.
www.street-papers.org /INSP. Street Roots is a member of the
International Network of Street Papers.
This article appears in 2013-01-04.