NYWIFT Talks: Women Journalists on the Frontline

Welcome to NYWIFT Talks, a weekly series to bring updated news and vital information about the impact of COVID-19 and current events on the media and entertainment industry. Industry professionals will be in conversation discussing what you need to know about theatrical releases, digital advances, virtual tools, festival opportunities, production updates, and more. 

NYWIFT Talks are free for all to attend.

Join us on this week’s NYWIFT Talks in conversation with journalists who have recently been on the front line in the war in Ukraine. They will speak about their experiences on the ground and the unique challenges of being a woman war correspondent. We will hear about the training they had before going in, best practices on the ground, and the emotional effects of reporting on war in 2022.

Speakers include correspondents from ABC, Vice, and CNN.  Moderated by former ABC News longform journalist and current NYWIFT Board Member Christina Kiely.

DATE: Thursday, May 12, 2022
TIME: 3:30pm ET
PRICE: Free

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Panelists

Maggie Rulli is an ABC News correspondent based in London covering stories and events all over the world. She’s been on the ground during historic wildfires in Australia and Greece, and during once in a lifetime flooding in Germany and South Africa. She was there when India was hit by one of the deadliest COVID outbreaks in the world and traveled to cover outbreaks and the process of reopening all over Europe. And she was in Ukraine just days after Russia invaded, also traveling through Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova to report on how Ukraine’s smaller southern border countries were grappling with the refugee crisis. On the ground in Beijing for the winter Olympics, Maggie had the unique opportunity to be ABC’s first team inside China since the pandemic. While closely covering the royals, Maggie has been front and center on multiple royal tours. She visited South Africa and Angola with Prince Harry and Megan, as well as traveled with Prince William and Kate to Pakistan. Prior to joining the London bureau, Maggie was based in New York, where she covered the aftermath of Hurricane Michael, the Parkland shooting and the California wildfires.

Salma Abdelaziz has been a Reporter for CNN based in London since July 2020. She recently returned from Ukraine and Poland where she spent nearly 6 weeks covering the Russian invasion and the refugee crisis it created.
Prior to her on-air job, Abdelaziz had nearly a decade of experience behind the camera. Field Producing some of CNN’s toughest and most dangerous assignments alongside senior talent from embedding with the Taliban, to the frontlines of the ISIS war, to investigations in Yemen, to the Syrian Civil War. Abdelaziz alongside crews won multiple accolades – Emmys, Peabodys, a Murrow – but she was also individually recognized with a Gracie Award, and as AIBs Breakthrough Talent of the Year in 2018.
Abdelaziz was born in Shibin el-Kom, Egypt and moved to the United States with her family as a child. She holds a B.S. in International Affairs from Georgia Tech and an M.A. in Mass Communication from Georgia State University.

Christina Kiely (Moderator) has been producing and directing documentaries for over 23 years. Most recently she has been executive producing a documentary #whereisPengShuai for Vice Documentaries. Before that Kiely wrote and produced ABC News’ first digital documentary series, A Murder On Orchard Street. Kiely also co-produced the accompanying podcast to the seven-part series. In 2004 she was nominated for an Emmy for her work on the ABC News documentary series NYPD 24/7. While at ABC she also produced for the series In the Jury Room and the weekly news magazine Primetime Mondays. Outside of ABC, Christina has produced and directed numerous programs, including the A&E Biography of Yo-Yo Ma, 12 hours of the TLC series Code Blue, the PBS weekly news magazine Rights & Wrongs: Human Rights Television, as well as various documentaries for the International Labor Organization of the United Nations, including a co-production on migrant farm workers with the PBS series NOW.