This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Chzz (talk | contribs) at 21:40, 14 December 2011 (added Category:Iranian journalists using HotCat). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 21:40, 14 December 2011 by Chzz (talk | contribs) (added Category:Iranian journalists using HotCat)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| Lisa Daftari | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nationality | Iranian American |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist and commentator |
| Employer | Fox News Channel |
Lisa Daftari is an Iranian American journalist and commentator with expertise in the Middle East and North Africa. She regularly appears on television and radio as a specialist on Middle East affairs and counterterrorism. Currently, she is an on-air political commentator on the Fox News Channel and frequently appears on Fox & Friends, Happening Now, Geraldo at Large, Hannity, Women's Power Panel, and Fox's late night satire program Red Eye w/Greg Gutfeld. She is also a columnist for FrontPage Magazine, serving as their Iran analyst. She has been featured on CBS, NBC, PBS, The Washington Post, Voice of America, Russia Today, and The Washington Times. She does interviews in English, Spanish, and Persian.
Early life
Lisa is a first generation Iranian American. She was born in New Jersey to Sean and Simin Daftari. Her father is a physician and college professor, and her mother has a background in language and accounting. She grew up in Bergen County, a suburb of New York City, the second of four Daftari children.
Lisa graduated with a 4.0 GPA from Rutgers University New Brunswick with a B.A. in Spanish, Middle Eastern studies, and vocal performance.
She went on to receive her masters degree in broadcast journalism at the Annenberg School of Journalism at the University of Southern California, where she was awarded a Presidential Merit Scholarship. In her last year of graduate school, Lisa was selected as a fellow to the Carnegie and Knight News 21 investigative journalism initiative. Using her grant, Lisa delivered the exclusive story of four Iranian brothers detained in Federal prison on charges connecting them to the MEK, a political organization on the U.S. terror list. She delivered her report on PBS for a 9/11 anniversary show.
Lisa is fluent in Persian and Spanish and is an avid opera singer and pianist.
Career
In 2006, while in graduate school, Lisa was invited to show her thesis documentary film about an underground Iranian political group, Marze Por Gohar to Congress. During that time, she worked as an associate producer in the investigative unit at NBC in Los Angeles. While at NBC, she helped break the story about the 2005 Los Angeles bomb plot, in which Jamiyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh, an Islamist prison gang, planned to bomb prominent Los Angeles sites.
In 2007, after graduating, Lisa left NBC to work as a researcher for several think tanks focusing on the Middle East and counterterrorism. She attended several hearings on Iran divestment in the California State Assembly. At the end of that year, she delivered a 100-page report about regime change in Iran to the Pentagon.
In 2009, Lisa began appearing on the Fox News Channel commentating on developments in the Middle East and Iran, in particular. She now appears frequently on the network on various television and radio programs.
References
- "IranExpert1's Channel". YouTube. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- "Lisa Daftari". FrontPage Magazine. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- "Search for daftari". Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- ^ Imani, Amil (25 June 2011). "A Conversation with Journalist Lisa Daftari". American Thinker. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- Daftari, Lisa. "Lisa Daftari, Journalist". Lisa Daftari. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- "Background Information on Foreign Terrorist Organizations". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- Daftari, Lisa; Eisenberg, David; Juarez, Leo (4 August 2006). "3 Years in Jail, 0 Charges Filed: The story of the Mirmehdi brothers". News 21. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- Daftari, Lisa (17 July 2006). Thesis on Marze Por Gohar (Speech). United States Congress. Washington, D.C. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- Daftari, Lisa (2006). Marze Por Gahar: The struggle to bring democracy to Iran (M.A. thesis). Proquest. ISBN 9780542901140. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- "Four indicted in alleged L.A. terror plot". CNN Justice. 1 September 2005. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- Daftari, Lisa. "To be pessimistic would be wrong". Lisa Daftari. Retrieved 14 December 2011.