PEARL World Youth News invites high school students from around the world to become certified PEARL reporters.

Training in Rasht, Iran.

In the spirit of the high journalistic standards of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was murdered by terrorists in Pakistan in 2002, teenage students will select the issues to be reported, and collaboratively write, edit and publish their articles on the new web-based news service. These articles will be made available to schools all over the world for publication in student newspapers.

This initiative will create a unique international news service run by secondary school students from around the world. Adhering to the highest journalistic standards, participating students will select the issues to be reported, and write, edit and publish their articles on a web-based news service called PEARL World Youth News (PEARL).

Pearl participants at the Aga Khan Secondary School in Gilgit, Pakistan.

School newspapers will be able to print news stories from PEARL to add a global component to their local publications.

Co-sponsored by the Daniel Pearl Foundation, this project aims to take students beyond becoming media literate into becoming international correspondents for student publications. Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was murdered by terrorists in Pakistan, used journalism and music to connect people of diverse backgrounds. His skills as a foreign correspondent and his commitment to promoting understanding have inspired this program.

Workshop at Habib Girls School in Karachi, Pakistan, with Kamal Siddiqi

Secondary school students will be able to write articles for PEARL after completing an online training and certification program. The Pearl Reporter Certification Program has been developed in consultation with the New York Times Foundation and Melvin Mencher, professor emeritus, Columbia University School of Journalism. It is available online and free of cost to all secondary school students.

Students at Spokane Valley High School in Washington, US

The news content on PEARL will be managed by student editorial teams in the US (Managing Editor), Pakistan (News Editor), Lebanon (Features Editor), Iran (Entertainment Editor) and Uzbekistan (Music and Performing Arts Editor). Each editorial group has been trained by local journalists on topics ranging from reporting and editing to ethics and media laws. The project’s panel of trainers includes Nahid Siamdoust, Time magazine correspondent in Iran; Kamal Siddiqi, Assistant Editor of the Daily Dawn in Pakistan, Maha al Azar, former co-managing editor of the Daily Star in Lebanon; Obid Shabanov, Director of “Reporter”, a media-based nonprofit organization in Uzbekistan; and Kevin Graman, Staff Writer for the Spokesman-Review in Washington, US.

The worldwide team of PEARL Reporters and Editors will be encouraged to work collaboratively while researching, writing and editing news stories. With an emphasis on unbiased reporting and respect for a diversity of views, the PEARL project hopes to not only develop journalistic skills among students but also broaden cross-cultural understanding and provide an important global youth perspective.

Workshop at Gymnasium Parvoz in Ferghana, Uzbekistan

For more information on how to become a certified Pearl Reporter, please visit www.iearn.org/pearlproject/index.html

or write to
anindita@us.iearn.org.
 

For more information about the project, please visit www.iearn.org/pearlproject/index.html or write to anindita@us.iearn.org.

This news release is from the Daniel Pearl Foundation which is solely responsible for its contents.