BRARIANGELINA Jolie, Pearl, Pitt at Cannes (Photo: Getty Images)
Mariane Pearl, the widow of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, spoke out against the media establishment Thursday evening at a party hosted by Glamour to toast the book debut of her collected reporting for the magazine, In Search of Hope. In a critique of the WSJ and a public blinded by tabloid drama, she told Radar: "I think the Wall Street Journal has one person covering Africa." If celebrities like Angelina Jolie, who wrote the forward to Pearl's book, are drawing attention to issues it's because, as she put it: "Celebrities are doing the work that journalists are not. We can't afford to be cynical about that.'"
In a world where Britney's wardrobe dramas get more coverage than child prostitution or public health in the developing world, Pearl said, "Can you really strike out against Angie and Bono? Sure, there's an opinion backlash. People think they are doing it for some sort of ego trip. But the people who are expressing that opinion? What are they doing?"