Quick Facts
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Sama Ameen Dizayee (born 2 June 1988) is an Iraqi Kurdish radio and television personality.
Dizayee was born and raised in Baghdad. She studied computer sciences in Erbil till late 2009 and then moved to the United States to pursue her studies in political science.
Early life
Dizayee began her career in media at the age of 15 when she became a host on online radio station VOY FM (Voice of Youth), and went on to be a producer at the station. She was also the main host and producer for the online radios Marina FM, Shabab FM and Iraq FM, big names in online radio in the Middle East and Iraq. At 17 she began reporting for the first English newspaper in Erbil, Kurdistan, "The Kurdish Globe," and also for the student magazine Ozone.
After a while Dizayee started working for the first English-language radio station in Kurdistan Zed Radio where she hosted and co-hosted in English and Kurdish her own shows and her co-workers'.
Professional background
Dizayee is one of the newest faces of Al Sumaria TV Satellite channel. Al Sumaria is known as one of the leading Iraqi satellite channels in Iraq, broadcasting from multiple studios in the Arab countries, with millions of viewers from more than 86 countries. Al-Sumaria was ranked Iraq's #1 Satellite Channel in 2012.
Dizayee hosted Al-Sumaria's #1 Ramadan show "Majina Ya Majina" directed by Walid Melki. She and her colleagues won the award for "Best Ramadan Quiz Show" in 2011 from the Iraqi Minister of Culture.
She now hosts the Arabic charts show "Top 10" on Al-Sumaria with her friend and co-worker Bassam Mahdi broadcast live from Lebanon everyday Friday at 17:30 telling viewers about the latest songs and how they were made, showing a clip of the week (chosen by the staff of the show) and the top 10 favorites from viewers' votes.
International contributions
Dizayee comes from a political family, and she graduated with a degree in Political Science and International Relations, planning to pursue a political career in Kurdistan. She now focuses her reporting on politics, contributing as a political analyst and writer on national and international news agencies including Voice of America, Associated Press (AP), BBC World Service, BBC World News, and The Kurdish Globe (National Newspaper).