Reporter jailed in Russia named LA Press Club Daniel Pearl awardee

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, left, stands in a glass cage in a courtroom at the First Appeals Court of General Jurisdiction in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. A court will consider an appeal against the arrest of WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was detained on espionage charges in Yekaterinburg last year. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

LOS ANGELES – Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been imprisoned in Russia for more than a year, was named this week the recipient of the Los Angeles Press Club’s 2024 Daniel Pearl Award for Courage and Integrity in Journalism.

“We are extremely pleased to see the Daniel Pearl Award being awarded to Evan Gershkovich who, like Danny before him, has come to symbolize press freedom and the importance of truthful reporting,” Judea Pearl, father of slain journalist Daniel Pearl, said in a statement announcing the honor. “We hope this award brings hope and encouragement to Evan as he is awaiting justice, and sends a strong message to the Russian government that, despite attempts to disrupt world orders, the free world still holds the safety of journalists as a sanctuary of civilized society.”

Gershkovich was arrested in March 2023 by Russia’s Federal Security Service and charged with espionage, marking the first time since the Cold War a US journalist has been charged in Russia as a spy. The Wall Street Journal and US government have both strongly denied the allegations against Gershkovich.

“Evan’s situation is a stark and painful reminder of just how critical an independent and free press is today,” Wall Street Journal assistant editor Paul Beckett said in a statement. “There is nowhere Daniel Pearl’s legacy looms larger than The Wall Street Journal, and we’re incredibly grateful to the Los Angeles Press Club for recognizing Evan and for highlighting what’s at stake at a time when many are emboldened to silence journalists simply for doing their job.”

The award is given in memory of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, a Birmingham High School graduate who was kidnapped and killed by Islamic radicals in Pakistan in 2002.

Pearl, who grew up in Encino, was 38 when he was abducted while in Karachi working on a story about a link between failed shoe-bomber Richard Reid and al-Qaida. He was called a spy and videotaped as he was beheaded.

The Los Angeles Press Club has presented the Daniel Pearl Award since 2002, in conjunction with Pearl’s parents, Judea and Ruth Pearl. Ruth Pearl died in 2021.

This year’s award will be presented June 23 at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. (CNS)