Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act: Protecting Press Freedoms Worldwide

President Obama signed the Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act into law, a bill that reinforces the nation’s commitment to ensure freedom of the press, including bloggers, around the world. The President described the act as upholding our “core values” and sending a strong signal to the world about journalistic rights.

The President was joined by members of the murdered journalist Daniel Pearl’s family, including his son Adam and his widow, Mariane. He thanked the Pearl family for their courage in ensuring that Pearl’s legacy of holding governments accountable lives on. The bill directs the State Department to record how press freedom operates in conjunction with our human rights assessment, and hold countries that facilitate press repression to world opinion. He explained that the bill sends a strong message from the U.S. government and State Department to other countries that America is paying attention to how press is operating around the world.





President Barack Obama talks with Adam Pearl, son of murdered journalist Daniel Pearl,
before signing the Daniel Pearl Freedom of Press Act in the Oval Office. The President was
joined by members of Pearl’s family, including Pearl's widow, Mariane, for the signing
of the act that expands efforts to identify countries where press freedom is being violated. The law
is named after Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter who was killed by militants in Pakistan
in 2002. May 17, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)


http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/05/17/protecting-press-freedoms-worldwide