Covering the Middle East and its Peoples in the USA

Learn how to cover the varying communities accurately and with nuance

The Middle East has dominated headlines for decades, especially since the September 11, 2001 attacks and the wars the US has waged in the region. Its peoples are often seen as foreign to the US. However, they have been immigrating to the US since the late 1800s. They come from a variety of ethnic and religious groups and are by no means monolithic politically and socio-economically. They live across the US, in cities, suburbs, and rural towns. Yet, they are rarely portrayed with such complexity and in contexts beyond the religion and immigration beats.

In this workshop, Alia will go over the skills journalists need to have when covering such communities that have long been either invisible in mainstream coverage, or hyper-visible in sensationalized and problematic ways.

She will cover:

• The geopolitical context, conflicts and immigration
• Issues of interest to these communities in America
• Loaded terms and stereotypes to avoid
• Examples of great stories, standards and recommendations
• Finding further resources and experts