Alia Ibrahim is a leading Lebanese journalist and media innovator, known for her work at The Daily Star, The Washington Post, and Al Arabiya, and as the co-founder and CEO of Daraj Media, an award-winning independent Arabic news platform recognized for its investigative reporting and regional impact.

A pioneer in the region, she is among the rare female reporters to have covered from the frontlines across the Middle East, navigating conflict, censorship, and the responsibility of representing her community in global media. For Ibrahim, journalism is a way of life shaped by curiosity, courage, and a relentless pursuit of truth — rooted in Beirut, a city she describes as chaotic, fragile, and endlessly alive, and the only place where an independent Arab newsroom like Daraj could have taken shape.

Speaking with Paris Calling, Ibrahim reflects on reporting Lebanon’s post-war reconstruction, covering the 2006 conflict as a young mother, and confronting the editorial red lines that ultimately led her to co-found Daraj. She discusses the access women journalists often have to hidden stories, the realities of reporting under fire, and why freedom — of the press, of ideas, of spirit — remains at the heart of Beirut’s identity.

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