Rana Sabbagh is a Jordanian-German investigative reporter/editor and recipient of the ICFJ Media Trailblazer Award 2024 for her pioneering role in "building a vibrant investigative reporting culture in the Middle East and North Africa."

With a career stretching four decades and operating in one of the world’s most dangerous regions for journalists, Sabbagh is co-founder of Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) and its first executive director (2006-end December 2020). The award-winning ARIJ is the region’s first and only regional network promoting the culture of the hitherto unknown culture of investigative journalism in news rooms, and at Arab Universities.

She has trained a generation of investigative journalists and editors and overseen the production of hundreds of public interest stories, often at great risk to herself. Sabbagh continued to produce hard-hitting stories as senior editor for the MENA region at the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting project (2020-end 2024).

Earlier this year, she co-founded Sabbagh Consultancy with a group of local, regional and international experts in public policy, gender equality, media and research, to create meaningful impact in her society and beyond. She is also co-founder of the recently launched Public Inquiry, a media platform dedicated to accountability journalism, and edits its Arabic version “Lil.ilem” – which translates to FYI in Arabic.

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