Hala Basha-Gorani (;
born March 1, 1970) is an American journalist, most recently working as an anchor and correspondent for
CNN International
CNN International (CNNI, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel that is owned by CNN Global. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates with sister network CNN's national and inte ...
, based in London. She is also a war correspondent. She previously anchored CNN's ''Hala Gorani Tonight'' weeknights at 8 p.m.
CET
CET or cet may refer to:
Places
* Cet, Albania
* Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus
* Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Comcast En ...
. Gorani co-hosted ''
Your World Today
''Your World Today'' is a daily international news-magazine television series that airs on CNN International, a sister cable-news channel to CNN. The show serves as a morning breakfast show for viewers in the Asia-Pacific region.
Production a ...
'' with
Jim Clancy until February 2009 and then
International Desk
''International Desk'' (also referred to as the ''I-Desk'') was a news program on CNN International. It delivered a round-up of the day's events. The show acts as a late night programme for Asia, an afternoon broadcast in Europe and a mid-morning n ...
until April 2014 from
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
's
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
headquarters.
Since February 2022, Gorani has been a special war anchor based in
Lviv
Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...
, in western
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
during the
Russian invasion. Although broadcast in the late evening to her American audience, the time difference means that she is coming live in the early morning from Ukraine.
On 28 April 2022, Gorani announced she would be leaving CNN, and would present her final episode of ''Hala Gorani Tonight'' that evening.
Early life
Gorani was born in 1970 in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
,
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
.
According to her, she comes from "quite an international background. ... I'm a U.S. citizen with
Syrian and French parents."
Gorani was mainly raised in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, France. She has also lived in
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
. Her name originates from (), a common Arabic name meaning "halo (around the moon)." She earned a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...
in economics from
George Mason University in
Fairfax, Virginia
The City of Fairfax ( ), colloquially known as Fairfax City, Downtown Fairfax, Old Town Fairfax, Fairfax Courthouse, FFX, or simply Fairfax, is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth ...
, near
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
and wrote for the
Fourth Estate students newspaper then known as the Broadside. She also graduated from the
Institut d'études politiques
An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations ( research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body.
In some countries, institutes can ...
(better known as Sciences Po) in Paris in 1995.
Due to her multi-national experiences during her formative years, the sound of her name, and her accent, Gorani says that she is a foreigner wherever she goes.
Gorani is fluent in English, French and
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
.
Career
![HalaGorani AIB](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/HalaGorani_AIB.jpg)
Gorani began her career as a reporter for ''
La Voix du Nord'' and
Agence France-Presse before joining
France 3
France 3 () is a French free-to-air public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5 and France Info.
It is made up of a network of regional television services provi ...
in 1994. After a stint at
Bloomberg Television
Bloomberg Television (on-air as Bloomberg) is an American-based pay television network focusing on business and capital market programming, owned by Bloomberg L.P. It is distributed globally, reaching over 310 million homes worldwide. It is hea ...
in London, she joined CNN in 1998 as an anchor for CNN International's European breakfast show ''CNN Today''. She has since reported from every country in the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
. In November 2005, Gorani was one of the first television reporters on the ground in
Amman, Jordan after Al Qaeda suicide bombers attacked two hotels. Earlier in 2005, she covered
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan
The Israeli disengagement from Gaza ( he, תוכנית ההתנתקות, ') was the unilateral dismantling in 2005 of the 21 Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and the evacuation of Israeli settlers and army from inside the Gaza Strip.
Th ...
from Gaza. In the summer of 2006, she covered the
2006 Lebanon War from Lebanon, which earned CNN an Edward R. Murrow Award.
[CNN Anchors & Reporters - Hala Gorani](_blank)
/ref> In 2002 and in 2007, she led CNN's coverage of the respective French presidential elections.
Gorani was one of the CNN journalists awarded a News and Documentary Emmy for the network's coverage of the 2011 Egyptian revolution that led to the ouster of the country's then president, Hosni Mubarak. In 2015, she covered from Paris the January Charlie Hebdo shooting
On 7 January 2015, at about 11:30 a.m. CET local time, two French Muslim terrorists and brothers, Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, forced their way into the offices of the French satirical weekly newspaper ''Charlie Hebdo'' in Paris. Armed with ...
and the November ISIS attacks.
Gorani also covered the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake
A catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest department, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's c ...
, for which CNN's coverage was recognized with a Golden Nymph award, one of the highest honors in international journalism, at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival
The Monte-Carlo Television Festival is held every year in June in the Principality of Monaco at the Grimaldi Forum, under the Honorary Presidency of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco.
The opening ceremony inaugurates each new edition, intro ...
that year. In addition to her anchoring duties, Gorani often goes into the field to report on major breaking news stories. In late June, she was part of a small team of journalists allowed into Syria for the first time since the protests began to cover the situation there. She previously reported extensively from Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
and Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
, and her coverage of the Arab Spring
The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econo ...
helped CNN win a Peabody Award in 2012.
In 2008, Gorani attended the World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...
in Davos, Switzerland, and she moderated the closing session that featured several business and political leaders including Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
, Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...
Laureate Elie Wiesel and JP Morgan Chase & Co. Chairman and CEO James Dimon.
Gorani formerly hosted ''Inside the Middle East'' on CNN International
CNN International (CNNI, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel that is owned by CNN Global. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates with sister network CNN's national and inte ...
, the monthly show featuring stories on the most important social, political and cultural issues in the region. During her five years as host, she reported on several colorful and thought-provoking stories including poverty in oil-rich Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
; everyday struggles for artists living in Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
; and gay life in the Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
, which was a first on international television and earned a nomination for a Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals ...
(GLAAD) award.
Gorani has interviewed Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...
, Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
, Amr Moussa
Amr Moussa ( ar, عمرو موسى, , Amr Muhammad Moussa; born 3 October 1936) is an Egyptian politician and diplomat who was the Secretary-General of the Arab League, a 22-member forum representing Arab states, from 1 June 2001 to 1 July 201 ...
, Rafik Hariri
Rafik is the given name of:
* Rafik Al-Hariri (1944–2005), business tycoon, former Prime Minister of Lebanon
* Rafik Bouderbal (born 1987), French-born Algerian player currently playing for ES Sétif in the Algerian Championnat National
* Rafik ...
, Saeb Erakat
Saeb Muhammad Salih Erekat ( ar, صائب محمد صالح عريقات ''Ṣāʼib ʻUrayqāt''; also ''ʻRēqāt, Erikat, Erakat, Arekat''; 28 April 195510 November 2020) was a Palestinian politician and diplomat who was the secretary genera ...
, Nouri al-Maliki
Nouri Kamil Muhammad-Hasan al-Maliki ( ar, نوري المالكي; born 20 June 1950), also known as Jawad al-Maliki (), is secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party and was the prime minister of Iraq from 2006 to 2014 and the vice president ...
, Ehud Barak, the Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current D ...
, Shimon Peres and , among others. Gorani avoids discussing her political and religious views, citing the need for professional neutrality.
In May 2015, Gorani was awarded an honorary doctorate by George Mason University and delivered the commencement address to that year's graduating students.
On the weekend of November 13–15, 2015, Gorani was a principal member of the extensive CNN team that covered the action, aftermath and investigation of terrorist attacks in Paris, France where some 130 people were killed.
In 2018, Gorani was nominated for another News and Documentary Emmy for Outstanding Breaking News Coverage, Manchester Concert Attack. That same year, she and her team received an Emmy Award for her show's coverage of
Syria: Gasping for Life in Khan Sheikhoun
"
In a commencement address, Gorani offered these observations to the new graduates: Gorani says that as a journalist, career defining moments are those where one can identify that the work did make a difference; and the being different is a good thing because those differences will make a person memorable. Gorani advised the students to cultivate their differences and from them the students will find their strength.
As of March 2022, Gorani has been a late night anchor based in Lviv, in western Ukraine during the Russian invasion.
Personal life
Gorani considers Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
her home, which is also where her mother resides.Hala Gorani speaks to Forward
2007
From 2004 to 2014, she was based at the
CNN Center
The CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, is the international headquarters of the Cable News Network ( CNN). The main newsrooms and studios for several of CNN's news channels are located in the building. The facility's commercial office space is occ ...
in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
, and in 2014 she moved back to London.
French novelist
Yann Moix
Yann Moix (, ; born 31 March 1968) is a French author, film director and television presenter. He is the author of ten novels and the recipient of several literary prizes. He has directed three films. He was a columnist on '' On n'est pas couch ...
also dedicated his first novel ''Jubilations Vers le Ciel'' to her in 1996.
Gorani married German CNN photojournalist Christian Streib on June 14, 2015, in
Jardin Majorelle, Morocco.
Gorani has a
Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is a British breed of toy dog of spaniel type. Four colours are recognised: Blenheim (chestnut and white), tricolour (black/white/tan), black and tan, and ruby; the coat is smooth and silky. The lifespan is u ...
dog named Louis Gorani Streib that appears with her and her husband frequently on he
Instagram account The dog is the subject of a
Instagram account they run in his nameto capture Louis the dog's exploits.
Awards and recognition
![HalaGorani2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/HalaGorani2.jpg)
* 2018: News and Documentary Emmy win for "Syria: Gasping for Life in Khan Sheikhoun."
* 2018: News and Documentary Emmy nomination for Outstanding Breaking News Coverage, Manchester Concert Attack.
* 2016: Television Personality of the Year, Association for International Broadcasting.
* 2015: Honorary
Doctor of Humane Letters
The degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (; DHumLitt; DHL; or LHD) is an honorary degree awarded to those who have distinguished themselves through humanitarian and philanthropic contributions to society.
The criteria for awarding the degree differ ...
degree,
George Mason University.
* 2015: Named one of the most powerful women by Forbes Woman Middle East.
* 2012: News and Documentary Emmy win for coverage of the Egyptian revolution.
* 2012: News and Documentary Emmy nomination for Outstanding Live Coverage of a Current News Story – Long Form (''Anderson Cooper 360'').
* 2012:
George Foster Peabody
George Foster Peabody (July 27, 1852 – March 4, 1938) was an American banker and philanthropist.
Early life
He was born to George Henry Peabody and Elvira Peabody (''née'' Canfield) as the first of four children. Both parents were New Eng ...
Award for the network's coverage of the
Arab Spring
The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econo ...
.
* 2011–2015: Named among 100 Most powerful Arab women by Arabian Business Magazine.
* 2007: Edward R. Murrow Award for the network's coverage of the continuing coverage of the Middle East conflict.
References
External links
Official profile at CNN.comHala Gorani's Inside the Middle East Diary, live from Egypt, January 31, 2007June 2008
Interview with Hala Gorani (French)2010
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorani, Hala
1970 births
Sciences Po alumni
American women television journalists
CNN people
George Mason University alumni
Living people
Journalists from Paris
Television anchors from Seattle
Women war correspondents
American reporters and correspondents
French women journalists
American people of Syrian descent
American people of French descent
French people of Syrian descent
Journalists from Washington (state)
American expatriates in Algeria
American expatriates in France
American expatriates in the United Kingdom
People from Aleppo