Thanks to her courage, commitment to shedding light on important stories, impeccable work and stellar leadership skills, Lina Attalah is included in TIME Magazine’s list of 100 Most Influential People of 2020. The Egyptian journalist and Editor-in-Chief of Mada Masr, who has previously been described by TIME as the “Muckraker of the Arab World,” was named in the Icons category of the annual list.
Attalah, who co-founded Mada Masr, made it onto the list for her devotedness to honest journalism. The Knight International Journalism recipient has made a name for herself for going the extra mile and taking risks to document and report sensitive stories for Mada Masr.
As one of Egypt’s leading independent online newspapers, it covers stories about politics, economics, arts and culture in English and Arabic. However, Attalah and her team have faced strong adversity as they uncover stories for what has been described the "last bastion of free press" in Egypt. As well as security forces storming its office late in 2019 and arresting journalists, Mada Masr has had its main online domain blocked in Egypt for a few years. Yet it continues to find ways to get its important work out there.
"Lina is almost stoic when asked about the courage that takes, often steering the conversation away from her to the commitment of her team. When you live like this, each day requires a temperature check and a mental calculation," Maria Ressa wrote for TIME. "Which story do you tackle? How far can you go?
"You won't know you've gone too far until you do, like when Lina and her team were arrested, handcuffed together in the police truck. They held each other's hands as they mentally grappled with the impact on their lives. They reminded each other: 'We are here by choice.'" Traditionally, people who have made it on the TIME list in the past get to nominate the latest movers and shakers, and it was Ressa, an investigative journalist and Co-Founder of Rappler, who chose Attalah.
As usual, the recently published list features figures across five categories: Pioneers, Artists, Leaders, Titans and Icons. The diverse 2020 list includes the likes of Black Lives Matter founders Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi and anti-Islamophobia protester Bilkis.
