Dena Takruri

Dena Takruri (Arabic: دينا تكروري) is an American journalist, on-air presenter, and digital producer with AJ+, an online news service owned by Al Jazeera Media Network.

Dena Takruri
دينا تكروري‎
Born (1983-12-03) December 3, 1983[1]
San Francisco, California, U.S.[2]
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley (BA)
Georgetown University (MA)
Occupations
  • Journalist
  • television host/producer
Years active2006–present
EmployerAJ+

She is the host of the award-winning AJ+ docuseries "Direct From with Dena Takruri," which focuses on domestic and international breaking news, political issues, and social justice movements.

The videos that Takruri hosts range in format from in-studio explainers that provide context to the news stories, to interviews with experts and stakeholders, and ground reports from the locations of rapid news developments. Specific subjects that she has covered include the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; the Korean conflict; the Black Lives Matter movement, American police brutality, and mass incarceration in the United States; and the 2016 United States presidential election.[3]

Early life

Dena Takruri is of Palestinian descent.[4] She completed her graduate studies at Georgetown University in Arab Studies.[5] Takruri is a graduate of Lowell High School.

Career

Dena Takruri began her broadcast career in 2007 as co-host and producer on a weekly hour-long satellite television program called "What's Happening" that aired on Arab Radio and Television Network (ART). The show, which aired in North America, focused on current political, cultural and social issues related to Arab-Americans.[5]

She also worked as a research assistant with Dr. Rochelle Davis of Georgetown University between January 2007 and April 2008.[6] One of her duties included interviewing U.S. military personnel who served in Iraq for a project on their perceptions of Iraqi culture and U.S. military cultural training. The findings of this research were presented at a historians’ conference in Atlanta, Georgia, in April 2008. They were ultimately published in a chapter of a book titled "Anthropology and Global Counter Insurgency."[7] In 2008, Takruri also contributed Arabic-to-English translations for the award-winning feature documentary film "Budrus."[6]

Takruri joined Al Jazeera Arabic in Washington D.C. in 2008 as a producer on its weekly live current affairs show hosted by Abderrahim Foukara that examines the impact of U.S. politics on the Arab region. There, she produced interviews with prominent political figures including Donald Rumsfeld, Robert Gates, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Tony Blair, John McCain, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.[6] Takruri joined HuffPost Live, the online streaming network of the Huffington Post, as a producer and host in June 2012. She was part of the original launch team and covered global affairs, politics, lifestyle and culture.[8] She is now a presenter and producer at AJ+, Al Jazeera's all digital video news network targeted towards millennials.[9]

Takruri has reported domestically from Charleston, South Carolina in the aftermath of the church shooting. She also covered the armed occupation of the federal wildlife reserve in Oregon and the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Internationally, Takruri covered Europe's refugee crisis, embedding with refugees and crossing borders with them while broadcasting in English and Arabic. She also reported from the West Bank during intensified tensions in the fall of 2015. Her videos have gone viral, netting millions of views on Facebook and hundreds of thousands of shares on YouTube.[3]

Direct From with Dena Takruri

Since June 2015, Takruri has been the host of the AJ+ field docuseries "Direct From with Dena Takruri." The show focuses on both international and domestic breaking news, issues and social justice movements. Past episodes have covered the Korean Demilitarized Zone, the Cape Town water crisis, the Catalan independence movement and homelessness in Skid Row, Los Angeles.[10]

"Direct From with Dena Takruri" has been recognized by multiple awards, including two Edward R. Murrow Awards (Radio Television Digital News Association), Webby Award, Shorty Awards, and Clarion Award.

Takruri was one of the first journalists who interviewed Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi after her release from Israeli prison[10] and helped write her autobiography, which was published in 2022.[11]

Personal life

Takruri is proficient in Arabic and English, with limited working capability in Spanish and Hebrew.[12] She identifies as a Muslim.[3]

References
  1. "Dena Takruri, Born 12/03/1983 in California | CaliforniaBirthIndex.org". www.californiabirthindex.org. Archived from the original on February 11, 2023. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  2. "Bio - Dena Takruri". DenaTakruri.com. July 27, 2013. Archived from the original on November 6, 2016. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  3. "This Muslim journalist challenges power — from Standing Rock to Donald Trump". Vox. December 13, 2016. Archived from the original on April 3, 2023. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  4. "Muslim journalist works to break down barriers". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on February 13, 2018. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  5. "Journalist Dena Takruri on being millennial, Arab American and a woman on camera". niemanstoryboard.org. Archived from the original on February 13, 2018. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  6. "Linkedin: Dena Takruri". Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  7. Kelly, John D.; Jauregui, Beatrice; Mitchell, Sean T.; Walton, Jeremy (April 15, 2010). Anthropology and Global Counterinsurgency. University of Chicago Press. p. 297. ISBN 9780226429953. Archived from the original on October 3, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  8. "Videos". live.huffingtonpost.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  9. "0:25 - Cenk Uygur Interviews Dena Takruri Of AJ+ - YouTube". YouTube. March 18, 2015. Archived from the original on January 16, 2021. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  10. "Direct From with Dena Takruri full playlist". YouTube. Archived from the original on April 27, 2018. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  11. Ahed Tamimi, Dena Takruri, 2022: They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girl's Fight for Freedom Archived 2023-06-09 at the Wayback Machine
  12. "National Middle East Language Resource Centre: Arabic Success Stories - Dena Takruri". Archived from the original on March 20, 2018. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
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