Arab American Women are Forging New Paths in the Media

posted on: Oct 7, 2020

The media plays an integral part in our daily lives, providing us with information via electronic and print mediums. It is imperative that the media reflects the diversity of the American mosaic. Join us as we meet six Arab American women who will speak about the importance of seeing more Arab Americans in the media and how to navigate through the process.

Register in advance for this Zoom meeting here:
https://arabamerica.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMldeqhqT0sHt0v5t0RRBacCrkRd4uUCevv

Our guests will include:

Dena Khalafallah, Moderator

Dena Khalafallah is a multimedia journalist with a strong interest in entertainment media. Dena holds a Master of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University Medill, where she specialized in broadcast and video storytelling. She also has a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies from Loyola University, Chicago. Dena previously worked for iHeartMedia Chicago and interned for WGN-TV, “Chicago’s Very Own” No. 1 rated morning news show.

Ameera David

Ameera David is WXYZ’s weekend evening anchor and weekday reporter. At Detroit’s ABC affiliate, Ameera anchors 5, 6, 7, 10, and 11 pm weekend broadcasts and is the lead reporter of The Rebound Detroit, an initiative bringing Metro Detroiters the resources and guidance they need to rebound and recover from the damaging financial impact of Covid-19. She completed graduate studies at Columbia University’s School of Journalism.

Sara Ganim

Sara Ganim is a Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist, with 15 years of experience in print and television. She started her career as a newspaper reporter and won a Pulitzer Prize at age 24 for breaking and covering the investigation into former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky’s sexual abuse of young boys. She then spent seven years at CNN, covering issues including government agencies, the rise of the anti-fascist movement in the U.S. the NCAA’s mishandling of concussions, and American drinking water issues.

Rhana Natour

Rhana Natour is a reporter and producer for the PBS NewsHour, where she covered the 2016 presidential elections, the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, and important stories on technology, gender, race, and culture for the program. Rhana was a news fellow and later an associate producer at ABC News in New York, producing content for “Good Morning America”, “Nightline” and “World News”. In 2014, she earned an Emmy nomination for her work on the Nightline special “Crisis in Syria”.

Sara Shouhayib

Sara Shouhayib is an Emmy-award winning journalist who is currently working as the morning news anchor at KBAK/KBFX. Sara graduated from the University of Michigan in 2013 with a double major in communications and Spanish with an environmental science minor. She also completed her graduate studies in Journalism at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in 2015.

Dena Takruri

Dena Takruri is an award-winning correspondent and producer. She’s currently a Senior Presenter at AJ+ and one of the channel’s founding members. Dena is recognized for her bold and immersive reporting, characterized by speaking truth to power in any setting and giving voice to those unheard. Many of her videos have gone viral, earning millions of views on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

The Arab America Foundation (AAF) is a non-profit (501c3) educational and cultural organization established in 2019. The mission of AAF is to promote the Arab heritage, educate Americans about the Arab identity, and to connect and empower Arab Americans together (socially and professionally) and build coalitions with diverse organizations across the U.S.

Visit our blog here!