Hawzah News Agency –When Ayah Galal anchored WFSB’s Saturday morning (25th December) news coverage, she became Connecticut’s first woman in a hijab to do so. Galal referred to the opportunity to fill the anchor role as an honor.
“It’s truly an honor to be able to share and tell stories in my home state,” Galal said.
Galal studied journalism and political science at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, where she was a member of Q30 Television, the campus’s student-run television station, before graduating in 2018.
During her final semester of high school, a producer position at News 8 became available. She submitted an application and got accepted. She had been in that position for over a year. She expressed a desire to be out in the field and on the air more, but was concerned that her hijab might hinder her from doing so.
“I feared that because of my hijab, no news station would accept me for an on-air position, so that’s why I initially went for a behind-the-scenes position, but my colleagues pushed me to go for it,” Galal said.
She began gaining field experience and compiling a Resume tape before being hired as a reporter and producer at WFSB-TV in December 2018. For over two years, she worked behind-the-scenes producing and reporting at WFSB, and then worked the morning reporting shift, which meant getting up before 2 a.m. to be to work by 3 a.m.
Despite the fact that her colleagues in the media were highly supportive, she stated that the media was partly to blame for her worries in the first place.
“For years, I have seen how Muslims have been misrepresented in the media,” Galal said. “I think there are a lot of misconceptions and misunderstandings about Muslims.”
She went on to say that representation in the media is important, and that on-air talent should reflect the variety of the communities they cover.
“Muslims are a part of the fabric of this country, and growing up, there were not people who looked like me on television,” Galal said. “I’ve received so many messages from Muslim families, happy to see a Muslim on-air.”
Galal claimed she received an outpouring of support from fans, friends, family, and the general public after anchoring on Saturday. She stated that the positive words of support she has received have outweighed the hostile and Islamophobic ones she has received over the years.
She aspires to inspire others to be true to themselves while pursuing what they enjoy.
“I especially hope younger generations see that it’s okay to be different and embrace what makes you unique,” Galal said. “While we’ve certainly come a long way, I think there’s still more work to be done.”