Times Square Ball Drop: Journalists Honored on New Year’s

Karen Attiah

Karen Attiah is the global opinions editor for the The Washington Post. She is one of the group of journalists who was named as a special guest to drop the ball in Times Square on New Year's Eve 2018.

Attiah was the editor for slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi. According to The Hill, she is an advocate for press freedom, a value that the journalists' inclusion in the ball-dropping moment is meant to highlight.

In an opinion piece, she harshly criticized President Donald Trump and the Saudi regime, writing, "The darkly ironic argument that the United States should allow MBS to get away with murder just so it can continue to sell military equipment to Saudi Arabia is as morally craven as it is foolish policy. The Saudi-led coalition along with the United Arab Emirates has orchestrated a disastrous war in Yemen, triggering the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II. Militarily, the war has been a failure. Despite U.S. training of Saudi forces and their use of American weapons, the Saudi forces have not made any significant headway against Iran-backed Houthi rebels."

Karen Attiah Writes About Gender, Race & International Politics

According to her Washington Post biography, Karen Attiah "is the Global Opinions editor at The Washington Post, where she commissions and edits commentary on global issues from a variety of international writers. She joined The Post in 2014 as a digital producer in the Opinions section. Attiah often writes on issues relating to race, gender and international politics, with a special interest in Africa. Previously, she reported as a freelancer for the Associated Press while based in the Caribbean. Attiah was a Fulbright scholar to Ghana and holds a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University. She received her bachelor's degree in communication studies from Northwestern University."

The Post reports that Attiah was also a 2008 Fulbright fellow, who speaks Spanish. Under education, the Post lists the following for Karen Attiah: "Northwestern University, BA in communication studies, minor in African Studies; Columbia University, master's in international affairs."

In the above picture, the Washington Post's Karen Attiah speaks onstage during "From Anguish to Action How to Lead During a Crisis" panel at 2018 Glamour Women Of The Year Summit: Women Rise at Spring Studios on November 11, 2018 in New York City.

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