Karen Attiah

Karen Attiah
Attiah in 2017 as moderator for New America think tank
Born (1986-08-12) August 12, 1986 (age 37)
Desoto, Texas, United States
NationalityAmerican
Alma materNorthwestern University (BA)
Columbia University (MA)
OccupationJournalist
Parent
  • Grace Attiah (mother)

Karen Attiah (born August 12, 1986) is an American writer, journalist, and editor. She is Global Opinions editor and columnist for The Washington Post. Along with David Ignatius, Attiah won a 2019 George Polk Award for their writing about the murder of their colleague Jamal Khashoggi. She was also named 2019 Journalist of the Year Award by the National Association of Black Journalists for her coverage of Khashoggi's murder. Her writing focuses on race, gender, culture, human rights and international affairs.

Early life

Attiah was born in 1986 in North Central Texas to a Nigerian-Ghanaian mother and Ghanaian father.[1] Her father was a pulmonologist.[2] After graduation from Northwestern University with a degree in communication studies and a minor in African studies, Attiah won a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Accra, Ghana, and obtained an MA in international affairs in 2012 from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.[3][failed verification]

Career

After graduate school, Attiah freelanced for the Associated Press from Curaçao. In 2014, she joined the Washington Post. She was the founding editor for the Post's Global Opinions section in 2016 and was promoted to the role of Opinions columnist in 2021.[4]

Attiah became the focus of international attention in October 2018 when a columnist she had recruited for the Washington Post's Global Opinions section, Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, went missing on 2 October 2018 after entering the Saudi embassy in Istanbul.[5] In an interview in Marie Claire, Attiah said her WhatsApp was suddenly flooded with "Jamal's missing" messages, and she felt she knew the worst had happened.[6] On October 5, two days after his disappearance, Attiah let his column space remain blank with the title "A missing voice".[7] Since then she has been interviewed by major news outlets as the primary contact for Khashoggi's last published opinion, and she began writing about his death and advocating for investigation.

In 2019, she received a number of awards for her efforts. She and David Ignatius won a George Polk Award for their reporting on Khashoggi's murder.[3] Attiah was also named 2019 Journalist of the Year Award by the National Association of Black Journalists, recognized for "raising her voice and using the power of her pen to bring attention to and offer ongoing coverage" of Khashoggi's murder.[8] She was named to the 2019 Root 100 list, cited as "an evangelist for racial equity and justice and [...] a champion for columnist Jamal Khashoggi, whose assassination exposed violence against the press."[9] She also received an honorary doctorate from Dickinson College for her work. [10]

Attiah was also awarded the 2018 NABJ Salute to Excellence award for Digital Commentary for "TL;DR with Karen Attiah", which ran from 2017 to 2018. [11] [12] She was also the recipient of the 2021 "Star to Watch" award by Washingtonian Magazine.[13]

In July 2019, Attiah accused Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, of making dog whistling attacks against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley, and asserting that it has helped to fuel President Donald Trump's rhetoric.[14] In November 2020, Attiah tweeted inaccurately about pending French legislation, wrongly accusing French President Emmanuel Macron of planning to "give Muslim's kids ID numbers to go to schools."[15] Attiah later deleted her tweet and apologized to her colleagues, though not to Macron.[16]

Beginning in March 2024, Attiah will be an adjunct professor at her alma mater, Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs. Attiah is the author of an upcoming book about Khashoggi called Say Your Word, Then Leave.[3]

References

  1. ^ kyeremeh, Fred (2018-11-24). "Meet Washington Post Editor Karen Attiah". Ghanaian American Journal. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  2. ^ "Bergen County Native Shares Coronavirus Survival Story". Mahwah, NJ Patch. 2020-04-22. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  3. ^ a b c ""All I Can Do is Tell My Truth." | Columbia SIPA". www.sipa.columbia.edu. Archived from the original on 2020-11-01. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
  4. ^ "The Washington Post's Karen Attiah named opinion columnist". Washington Post. 2021-06-17. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  5. ^ Interview about Attiah-Khasshoggi Global Opinion collaboration, Robin Wright's New Yorker collaboration with him, and Sarah Margon's interpretation as Washington director of Human Rights Watch on C-SPAN, 17 October 2018
  6. ^ 17 October 2018 Article in Marie Claire by Kayla Webley Adler
  7. ^ Washington Post Opinions tweet on 5 October 2018
  8. ^ "Ghanaian American Karen Attiah receives top NABJ award". Africa Times. 2019-06-13. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
  9. ^ "Karen Attiah". The Root. 2019. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  10. ^ Sheriff, Sarah. "2019 Commencement Citations". www.dickinson.edu. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  11. ^ "NABJ Names Karen Attiah 2019 Journalist of the Year". 2019-06-24. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  12. ^ "TL;DR with Karen Attiah - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  13. ^ "Photos & Video from the 8th Annual Washington Women in Journalism Awards - Washingtonian". 2021-07-01. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  14. ^ Re, Greg (July 15, 2019). "AOC unloads on Trump after he tells progressive congresswomen to 'go back' to home countries". MSN News. Make no mistake: Nancy Pelosi's dogwhistling snipes at @AOC, Ilhan Omar, @RashidaTlaib and @RepPressley helped pave the way for this vicious, racist attack from the president.
  15. ^ McElroy, Damien (23 November 2020). "France claims fake news after 'Muslim IDs for children' plan spreads online". The National.
  16. ^ "Itinerary of a fake news: how France was accused of failing young Muslims". The Canadian. 2020-11-23.

External links

  • Wordpress blog kept by Karen Attiah
  • 18-Oct-2018 interview of Attiah in New York Times
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