Pearl Stewart was the editor of the Oakland Tribune for one year beginning December 1992, the first African-American woman editor of a metropolitan daily newspaper. Said to be "well known for her dogged reporting," she was hired by David Burgin, who took a seven-month absence. Stewart resigned when Burgin returned, saying that she respected him "bur it is not possible for me to work with" him.

Later, she was director of career development and an instructor at Florida A&M's School of Journalism and Graphic Communication, and in January 2005 she became managing editor of the "black-oriented Chicago Defender

Chicago Defender

The Chicago Defender is a Chicago based newspaper founded in 1905 by an African American for primarily African American readers.In just three years from 1919–1922 the Defender also attracted the writing talents of Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks....

." She resigned two months later.