The widow of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl told a group of graduating journalists that the Iraq war and its aftermath will challenge the news media to maintain its role as government watchdogs.
Mariane Pearl warned the 43 graduates of the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism that official manipulation, nationalist sentiments and ideology all will make it difficult for news organizations to maintain the public's trust.
"Truth and honesty after the war are going to become very rare commodities," Pearl, 38, said Saturday.
Mariane Pearl, who chronicled her late husband's life in the book "A Mighty Heart: The Life and Death of Daniel Pearl," also urged graduates not to abandon their ideals, the same ones that cost Daniel Pearl his life when he was beheaded by Pakistani militants in 2002.
"Danny lived by his values as a man and as a journalist, and he died with them," she said.
"Live to your own values; resist cynicism and never forget why you were here in the first place," she said.