Maryan Seylac
Maryan Seylac | |
|---|---|
 Seylac, June 2020 | |
| Born | 1 January 1987 Baidoa, Somalia |
| Nationality | Somali |
| Alma mater | Kenya Institute of Mass Communication, University of Bedfordshire |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Known for | Journalism, activism |
Maryan Seylac (sometimes referred to as Marian Zeila;[1] born 1987) is a Somali journalist, women's rights activist as well as founder and Executive Director of the Somali Women Media Association (SOMWA).[2]
Background and education[edit]
Seylac was born in Baidoa to a father who was a teacher.[3] She was raised in the same town but finished her primary school at Abdulahi Bin zubeyr (Abda-azam) in Mogadishu. She completed high school in Al-hikma, still in Mogadishu before attending the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC) where she offered journalism. As 2020, she is studying Health and Social Care at the University of Bedfordshire in the United Kingdom.
Career[edit]
Seylac briefly worked as a teacher after high school in Baidoa.[3] She later started out as a news anchor at a local radio station, and received on-the-job training as she worked at a number of local stations in the cities of Baidoa, Mogadisho and Bosaso.[3] She was a news anchor as well as reporter on both Universal TV and Royal TV in the United Kingdom.
In 2006, Seylac founded Somali Women Media Association (SOMWA) as an effort to increase the number of females present in Somali media.[4]
Seylac left Somalia for Kenya and then England in 2009 due to insecurity in Somalia and after receiving a number of death threats from Al-Shabab militants on account of her being a female media practitioner.[5]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "'I'm not afraid of al-Shabab'". 28 January 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ "Interview with Chairperson of Somalia Media Women's Association". Somali Media Women Association. 17 April 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ a b c "'I was the only female journalist in my city'". BBC News. 25 September 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ Woman, Urban (28 September 2019). "Maryan Seylac Says Somalia Is A Dangerous Place For Women Journalists". Urban Woman Magazine. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
- ^ Digital, Standard. "Journalists on the run". The Standard. Retrieved 25 June 2020.