Elisa Lopez | Phoenix Staff

BY ASHIA TROIANO

In print | September 18, 2008

With former War News Radio Director Ayub Nuri’s return to Iraq this year, a new journalist-in-residence, Abdulla Mizead, has joined the weekly broadcast program. Covering the untold and ignored stories of the Iraq War is nothing new to Mizead, who is joining the Swarthmore community after a four year stint at National Public Radio’s Baghdad Bureau since 2003. Prior to that, Mizead attended the University of Baghdad.

As a citizen and resident of Iraq, Mizead constantly observed the effects of the war. However, Mizead said that the mainstream media has been desensitized to the gravity of war. “Stories about the war are six and seven pages after the headlines in the newspapers. It’s not a concern anymore.”
Mizead, who is a self-proclaimed “street guy,” said he takes an approach to journalism that isn’t typical for the 10 o’clock news. “Working at NPR, features mattered most to me. My main goal is to get people’s stories out there — not just facts and numbers. I would travel alone and do stories in the actual neighborhoods [and] find out about agriculture, education, women’s issues.”

And for the members of WNR, this approach allowed them to learn new skills and build on what they have already established. “He’s been incredibly helpful — finding interviews, editing, just talking with him about his experiences,” Emily Hager ’10 said. Jessica Engebretson ’09 said that Mizead has been instrumental in developing the program’s content. “He’s great at helping us throw around ideas and think about what we want to put in our show. He sees stories we wouldn’t have noticed,” Engebretson said.

In fact, Mizead provided much inspiration for WNR’s most recent broadcasts. The group covered the handover of the Anbar province to Iraqi forces, the celebration of Ramadan, the outbreak of cholera and a special segment on the soldiers. “The Words from the Troops segment was his idea. We never had a piece just for troops [and] it came together really well,” Engebretson said.

Mizead admits to falling into journalism, so to speak. “In 2003, journalism was nothing I was thinking of.” While walking through the al-Mutanabi Street Book Market in Baghdad, Mizead saw two NPR journalists, Deborah Amos and Tom Bullock, interviewing Iraqi citizens about their sentiments towards Iraq’s then-recent fall to America. While most of the responses were positive, Mizead’s was not. “I went over to them and said that this sucked. We were going to be bombarded by parties promising democracy, but America doesn’t have a clue as to what they’re doing. Saddam was bad, but what’s coming is worse,” Mizead said at the time. And with that fateful meeting, Mizead was offered a job opportunity with NPR, first as a translator in 2003 and then as a producer in 2004.

Though he is originally from Iraq, Mizead grew up internationally. His father’s work as a diplomat took the family to places around the world including the United Kingdom, Africa, countries in the Middle East and the United States. When asked if his childhood fed into his work now, Mizead responded that it has enabled him to “look at it from multiple perspectives and think of the other side, which helps you to be as objective as you possibly can.”

WNR members said that Mizead offers a perspective that is missing from the mainstream media.

“His depth and insight about Iraq is something you won’t get from the media,” Kristin Caspar ’09 said.
The members of WNR have found Mizead extremely valuable to the group in other ways as well. “For one, he speaks Arabic, which makes a huge difference. None of the other WNR members speak Arabic, and it really limits our pool to talk to only English-speakers,” Engebretson said.

According to Hansi Lo Wang ’09, Mizead was referred to the job with WNR by Charlie Mayer ’98, who is the Director of News Operations at NPR. “There were so many recommendations from NPR saying ‘if you don’t hire him, you’re crazy,’” Lo Wang said.

Mizead’s vision highlights what WNR has started to develop since its conception in 2005. “One, I want the students to connect with something outside their circle and two, to keep the story alive — what the people have gone through. The conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan has a huge impact on the entire Middle East.”

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