I did some further digging and found a Washington Post article from a few years ago called “Muslim journalists no longer as rare in US newsrooms“. I thought it was quite interesting given the topic and its relation to my major and our class. The piece covers a need for more Muslim journalists in U.S. newsrooms since the rise in Islamophobia due to events like 9/11 and the emergence of other Islamic extremism. It profiles writers like Rummana Hussain who was the metro editor and reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times at the time of the story being published. Her parents wanted her to be in the medical field, where Muslims are more well-represented, rather than a journalist. While an exact number of Muslims working in U.S. newsrooms is not given the piece does say that minorities make up about 13 percent of editorial staffs. The article says that hiring a diversity of faith in the workplace can be “problematic”.
Maria Ebrahimji, a journalist who began working for CNN in Atlanta in the mid-1990s, is quoted in the article and said that she has seen an increase in the number of young Muslims who are interested in journalism for a career. Ebrahimji talked about that fact that when she first started working she wouldn’t address her faith but over time she began to change and identify as Muslim in the workplace.