Women Reporters in the MENA Region
January 1, 2020
enes keskin
New To Conflicts In Middle East? Find Below Select Women Journalists & Experts Covering The Region
The Coalition For Women In Journalism has been vigilantly following the turmoil in Syria, Turkey, Lebanon and the Middle East at large. Our members and colleagues, some of whom are remarkable women journalists and experts on the region, provide us with regular updates. Whether you’re a seasoned expert or new to the crises, we have compiled a list of women journalists and experts you should follow on social media. Editors and newsrooms in need of eyes on the ground may find our list useful as well. Our list includes some of the most dedicated and experienced women journalists covering the region.
Index
Syria Reporters & Analysts
Kurdish Issues Reporters / Photojournalists on the ground
Kurdish Issues Journalists to be contacted for analysis or panels
Turkish - Syria Border Reporters / Photojournalists on the ground
Turkish - Syria Border Analysts
Turkey Journalists on the ground
Turkey Analysts
Lebanon Foreign correspondents on the ground
Lebanon Analysts
Syria
Reporters and analysts
Alessandria Masi
Managing Editor for Syria Deeply; currently at CNN
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Dareen Khalifa
Senior Syria Analyst, International Crisis Group
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Elizabeth Ferris
Co-director of the Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement
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Elizabeth Tsurkov
Fellow, Foreign Policy Research Institute; Admin, Women Know MENA
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Farah Najjar
Journalist/Producer for AJ English with a focus on Palestine & MENA.
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Hannah Allam
Foreign affairs reporter for Washington Post
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Hoda Abdel-Hamid
War correspondent with Al Jazeera
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Hwaida Saad
Covers Syria from Lebanon. for New York Times
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Janine di Giovanni
Newsweek Middle East Editor; Longtime war reporter on conflict; analyst and author.
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Joyce Karam
Washington Correspondent, The National
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Kiran Nazish
Journalist and analyst on Syria, ISIS and Kurdish issues
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Liz Sly
Washington Post’s Beirut bureau chief
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Nussaibah Younis
Founder of Iraq Leadership Fellows Program
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Rania Abouzeid
Independent journalist covering the Middle East, primarily Syria; based in Beirut.
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Robin Wright
Writer for New Yorker; Author of Rock the Casbah and other books on Middle-East.
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Rukmini Callimachi
Correspondent for The New York Times covering ISIS
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Saphora Smith
Foreign reporter for NBC News covering Middle East
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Suzan Haidamous
Washington Post reporter in Beirut
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Zeina Khodr
Senior correspondent, Aljazeera English — Turkey/Syria
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Kurdish Issues
Reporters / Photojournalists on the ground
Frederike Geerdink
Journalist and author in Kurdistan
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Jenan Moussa
Reporter for Dubai’s Al Aan TV
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Kurdish Issues
Journalists to be contacted for analysis or panels
Aylina Kılıç
Reporter focused on Kurdish issues
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Cale Salih
Project manager at the Institute for Integrated transitions, writes on Kurdistan
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Figen Gunes
Reporter with focus on Turkey, Kurdish issues and London
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Louisa Loveluck
Journalist based in Beirut for Washington Post
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Lawen Azad
Former host and producer of ‘Inside Kurdistan Extra’
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Nurcan Baysal
Kurdish author, journalist, human rights defender, columnist
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Ruwayda Mustafah
Author of A Journey to Kurdistan
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Turkish - Syria Border
Reporters / Photojournalists on the ground
Kristina Jovanovski
Canadian journalist based in Turkey. Worked on the Turkish side of the Turkey-Syria border
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Jenan Moussa
Reporter for Dubai’s Al Aan TV
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Julia Hahn
DW’s Turkey Correspondent
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Turkish - Syria Border
Analysts
Erin Cunningham
Washington Post correspondent in Istanbul, writing about the region
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Karen Young
Resident Scholar @AEI, covering political economy of the Gulf/MENA
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Mona Yacoubian
Conflict analysis and prevention in the Middle East
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Turkey
Journalists on the ground
Arwa Damon
CNN Senior International Correspondent
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Jane Arraf
NPR international correspondent covering Iraq
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Jenan Moussa
Reporter for Dubai’s Al Aan TV
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Jomana Qaddour
Syrian American lawyer & doctoral student Georgetown University Law Center
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Loveday Morris
Washington Post correspondent
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Alba Cambeiro
Freelance photojournalist from Spain based in Istanbul
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Sara Kayyali
Syria Researcher, Human Rights Watch
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Turkey
Analysts
Alev Scott
Freelance writer, and author of Turkish Awakening
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Amberin Zaman
Columnist at Al-Monitor, and former Turkey Correspondent, The Economist, Wilson Center Public Policy Scholar
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Asli Aydintasbas
Journalist, and Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations
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Ayla Albayrak
Journalist, Wall Street Journal correspondent in Istanbul
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Ayla Jean Yackley
Journalist covering Turkey. CFWIJ member
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Cale Salih
Researcher for The United Nations University’s Centre for Policy Research
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Christy Quirk
Polling specialist, and political strategist based in Istanbul
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Emel Kurma
Helsinki Citizens Assembly, an organization of citizens dedicated to peace, democracy and human rights in Europe
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Emma Sinclair - Webb
Director for Human Rights Watch in Turkey
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Gonul Tol
Director of the Middle East Institute’s Turkish Studies Program
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Hale Akay
Independent researcher
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Humeyra Pamuk
Senior Correspondent, Reuters, and Knight-Bagehot fellow at Columbia Journalism School
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Jennifer Hattam
Freelance journalist based in Istanbul
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Laura Pitel
Financial Times correspondent based in Ankara, Turkey. CFWIJ member
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Nigar Goksel
Turkey Director, International Crisis Group
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Sabiha Senyucel Gundogar
Research director of PODEM Istanbul
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Zeynep Erdim
Bureau Editor, BBC News
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Lebanon
Foreign correspondents on the ground
Zahraa Dirany: Freelance Journalist/ Media Coordinator at the Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering. She tweets here.
Bissan Fakih: Former campaign director The Syria Campaign. Contact email: bissanfakih@gmail.com
Rima Itani: She is the producer of Al Jazeera Instagram account and is based in Doha. You can follow her work here.
Luna Safwan
Reporting for VICE Arabia
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Julie Kebbi
Works for L’Orient-Le Jour. International desk
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Tamara Qiblawi
Digital Middle East producer at CNN
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Alexandra Talty
Writer/Journalist based in Lebanon
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Sarah Dadouch
Washington Post correspondent based in Beirut, Lebanon
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Abby Sewell
Beirut-based features reporter for Daily Star Lebanon
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Zahraa Dirany
Freelance Journalist/ Media Coordinator at the Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering
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Bissan Fakih
Former campaign director The Syria Campaign
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Rima Itani
She is the producer of Al Jazeera Instagram account and is based in Doha
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Lebanon
Analysts
Andrea Backhaus
Covers Middle East, conflict & migration, and beyond
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Hayat Mirshad
Journalist/Head of Communications & Campaigning at the Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering
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Abeer Saksouk
Architect and urbanist
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Mary Khodari
Feminist & Gender Equality Activist
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Rand Hammoud
Does research and Campaigns on Iraq and Jordan for Amnesty International
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Maha Yahya
Director Carnegie Middle East
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Sulome Anderson
Author and journalist with expertise on Palestine, Lebanon and Hezbollah
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