Magda Gad is a Swedish war correspondent and Middle Eastern analyst. She has been a correspondent for the Swedish media outletExpressen since 2015. Gad came to international prominence in June 2016 by covering the assault on Mosul in Iraq, where she reported the war againstISIS. She has been reporting from Afghanistan since September 2018, and is one of the few western journalists who gained access to the Taliban. Her focus is to shine a light on underreported regions and conflicts.
Previous assignments
Magda Gad reported about the Covid-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the election in the US 2020. In 2019 she reported about Turkey's offensive against Kurdish-led forces in northeastern Syria and revealed suspected war crimes, such as the use of white phosphorus against civilians. She reported about the aftermath of the war against ISIS in Raqqah, Syria and in Mosul, Iraq, and the uprising in Baghdad, Iraq. In 2018 Gad reported from Saudi-coalition controlled areas in south Yemen and Houthi-controlled areas in north Yemen. In 2017 she reported from the front lines of the war against ISIS in Raqqah, Syria. From 2016 she covered the war against ISIS in Iraq, including nine months in Mosul. Among her stories were the discovery of an ISIS mass grave in Hamam al-Alil and war crimes committed by Iraqi forces. In 2016 Gad did in-depth stories about drug-affected ghettos in Sweden and in Romania. She reported from both sides of the front lines in war-torn eastern Ukraine. 2014 to 2015 she reported from Liberia during the Ebola outbreak. In 2015 she reported about the war between drug cartels in Honduras and interviewed gang members from Mara Salvatrucha and Mara 18. In 2013 she reported on the conflict over blood minerals in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and exposed child slavery in Ethiopia. Magda Gad hosted the Swedish radio show Sommar I P1 2017. She is co-founder of the foreign news-reporting site Blankspot. Between 2004 and 2014 Gad worked as a journalist and editors for newspapers such as Tidningen Vi, Läkartidningen, Modern Psykologi, Café, Svenska Dagbladet and as a feature and news journalist for Aftonbladet. Magda Gad studied Political Science and Journalism in Stockholm. Additional edX coursework: "Terrorism and Counterterrorism", Georgetown University, "Religion, Conflict and Peace", Harvard University, ”Islam Through Its Scriptures", Harvard University. Co-author of books:
Vi – de bästa texterna 2018
En annan historia 2017
Awards
Newspaper of the Year Award for Best Picture and Sound 2020.