Sahar Baassiri (also spelled Baasiri) ( ar, سحر بعاصيري) is currently Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Lebanon to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

in Paris. Prior to her move into diplomacy she was a trailblazing Lebanese journalist. Ms. Baassiri worked for the leading Lebanese daily

An-Nahar ''An-Nahar'' ( ar, النهار, lit=The Day or The Morning) is a leading Arabic-language daily newspaper published in Lebanon. In the 1980s, ''An-Nahar'' was described by the ''New York Times'' and ''Time Magazine'' as the newspaper of record f ...

newspaper between 1981 and 2009. In 1993, she became the first female foreign editor at a Lebanese daily newspapers. And was the first woman in the Arab world to write a front-page column in a daily paper. She was also the

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

(UPI), Beirut correspondent between 1989 and 1991. She is the author of two books (in Arabic): Lebanon on Hold and The Wandering Arabs both published in 2009 by Dar An-Nahar. Ms. Baassiri earned her BA in Political Science from the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...

and an MS in Journalism from

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism s ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baassiri, Sahar Lebanese expatriates in the United States Lebanese women journalists Lebanese journalists Date of birth missing (living people) Living people American University of Beirut alumni Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Lebanese women writers 21st-century Lebanese writers