Lina Attalah

Lina Attalah (Arabic: لينا عطاالله) is an Egyptian media figure and journalist. Attalah is co-founder and chief editor of Mada Masr, an independent online Egyptian newspaper and was previously managing editor of the Egypt Independent prior to its print edition closure in 2013. She is active in the fight against the restriction of honest journalism. Time recognized her as a "New Generation Leader," calling her the "Muckraker of the Arab World" in 2018,[1] and including her in Time magazine 's 100 Most Influential People of 2020.[2]

Lina Attalah
لينا عطاالله 
Bornc. 1983  (age 38)
NationalityEgyptian
Alma mater
OccupationJournalist 
Position heldeditor-in-chief (Mada Masr, 2013) 

in 2020 she was awarded the Knight International Journalism Award from the International Center for Journalists.[3]

Education

Attalah is an alumn of the United World College Movement. She studied at the United World College of the Adriatic in Duino, Italy. [4]

Attalah studied journalism at The American University in Cairo.[5]

Journalism

Attalah's journalism has covered notable events in the Egyptian world, including the 2011 Egyptian revolution. She has published articles in Al-Masry Al-Youm, Cairo Times, The Daily Star[6] and the Christian Science Monitor and for the Thomson Reuters news agency.[5] She worked as a radio producer and campaign coordinator for BBC World Service Trust in 2005.[5]

Attalah was managing editor of the Egypt Independent prior to the closure of its print edition in 2013.[1][5] She is co-founder and the first chief editor of Mada Masr, an independent online Egyptian newspaper.[1]

Repression

In 2011, Attalah was among journalists who were attacked by security forces while covering a demonstration in Cairo.[7]

In November 2019, Attalah was briefly detained by Egyptian security services after Mada Masr, of which she is Chief Editor, published an article[8] about plans for president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's son Mahmoud el-Sisi to be transferred from the General Intelligence Directorate (GIS), one of the three Egyptian intelligence services,[9] to the Military Intelligence agency and assigned to a diplomatic position in Moscow in 2020 in response to Mahmoud's media visibility having a negative impact on president el-Sisi's image.[10] Mada Masr member Shady Zalat was detained for a day and a half, laptops and telephones from the Mada Masr office were confiscated, and Mada Masr staff, free lancers and guests were held incommunicado in the office for several hours by security forces.[11][10]

On May 18, 2020, in what was described as a "growing crackdown on freedom of expression linked to Covid-19," Attalah was arrested outside Tora prison in Cairo while interviewing the sister of detained journalist Alaa Abd El-Fattah.[12][13] Attalah was released on bail hours after her arrest.[14]

Public speaker

Attalah is a frequent public speaker and has been invited to address UNESCO's World Press Freedom Day, Storyful in Australia, the Arab Media Forum, and a host of other events.

Online media

Attalah is active in online social media. She had over 36.6 thousand followers on Twitter.

Recognition

Attalah was awarded the 2020 Knight International Journalism Award from the International Center for Journalists. [15] Attalah was one of Time's 100 most influential people of 2020.[2]

Personal life

Attalah is a Christian.[16]

See also

References

  1. Malsin, Jared (2017-10-12). "Muckraker of the Arab World". TIME.com. Archived from the original on 2019-11-29. Retrieved 2018-01-26.
  2. "Lina Attalah: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020". Time. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  3. "Fareed Zakaria and Two International Digital News Pioneers to Receive Prestigious Journalism Awards". www.prnewswire.com. June 30, 2020. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
  4. https://www.instagram.com/p/CATPAxaBF-Y/
  5. "Lina Attalah – Managing Editor". Egypt Independent. 2012-09-04. Archived from the original on 2012-09-04. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  6. Attalah, Lina (2012-04-23). "Cairo must engage more perceptively with the Sinai region". The Daily Star (Lebanon). Archived from the original on 2012-12-30. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  7. "Journalists beaten, websites blocked amid protests in Egypt - Committee to Protect Journalists". cpj.org. Retrieved 2018-01-26.
  8. "President's eldest son, Mahmoud al-Sisi, sidelined from powerful intelligence position to diplomatic mission in Russia". Mada Masr. 2019-11-20. Archived from the original on 2019-11-28. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
  9. "Egypt activist Wael Ghonim's brother ordered to remain in custody". Al Jazeera English. 2019-09-22. Archived from the original on 2019-10-19. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
  10. Attalah, Lina (2019-11-28). "A few things you might like to know about us". Mada Masr. Archived from the original on 2019-11-28. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
  11. "Plainclothes security raid Mada Masr office for several hours, detain 3 including Chief Editor Lina Attalah". Mada Masr. 2019-11-24. Archived from the original on 2019-11-28. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
  12. Michaelson, Ruth (2020-05-17). "Egyptian editor briefly detained in Covid-19 reporting crackdown". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  13. "Editor of one of Egypt's last independent newspapers briefly arrested | Reporters without borders". RSF. 2020-05-19. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  14. "Egypt: Mada Masr editor Lina Attalah released on bail". Al Jazeera. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  15. https://www.icfj.org/news/fareed-zakaria-and-two-international-digital-news-pioneers-receive-prestigious-journalism?fbclid=IwAR0NdzoZlSRv8vcmlPjv1MeIJ8ukYA2z_kLZwMV2HfuiUx1glpIfvS5aT80
  16. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2015/jan/27/-sp-online-newspaper-keeping-press-freedom-alive-egypt

Other sources

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