Naima Said Salah
I believe Bilan will be a game-changer for all women in Somalia — and for me personally.
Naima Said Salah's journey into journalism was a struggle from the very start. Her first challenge came from her own family.
"My family were not at all happy for me to become a journalist. They said it ran against our culture, and that women should not work in male-dominated environments."
Money was the next obstacle. After completing secondary school in Hargeisa, Naima could not afford university. She found a free journalism course, obtained a diploma, and then completed a two-year unpaid internship with Bulsho TV. She went on to work for a number of media houses across Somalia — in Garowe, Bossasso and Mogadishu — though she was often paid irregularly, or not at all.
She also faced clannism, especially when working in places where her clan was considered the enemy. Colleagues assumed her clan identity meant she could not be neutral. That discrimination, she says, led to bullying, extra unpaid work, and salaries withheld.
Through it all, Naima has been drawn to the people the Somali media usually overlooks. She reports on the vulnerable and on subjects considered untouchable — telling human stories such as that of an old man who has lived for years with HIV, or a grandmother left to raise her grandchildren alone after her mentally ill daughter vanished when floods destroyed their home.
"I hope Bilan will give us the freedom and safety to do a different kind of journalism — beyond Somalia's usual media diet of male-dominated politics and conflict."
Her journey, so far
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The first fight
Chooses journalism against her family's wishes, who feared it ran against their culture.
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A free diploma
Unable to afford university after school in Hargeisa, she finds a free journalism course and earns a diploma.
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Starting out
Completes a two-year unpaid internship at Bulsho TV — her first newsroom.
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Across Somalia
Reports from Garowe, Bossasso and Mogadishu — often paid irregularly, or not at all.
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Holding the line
Faces clan discrimination and bullying, yet keeps reporting fairly across divides.
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The untold stories
Turns to the vulnerable and the untouchable — the people Somali media usually leaves out.
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At Bilan
Joins Bilan Media — the safe space she hopes will change journalism for Somali women.
"I hope Bilan will give us the freedom and safety to do a different kind of journalism — beyond Somalia's usual diet of male-dominated politics and conflict." Naima Said Salah — Reporter, Bilan Media
Reporting the people others overlook
Naima built her career against family opposition, financial hardship and clan discrimination — and it shaped the journalist she became. She is drawn to the stories Somali media treats as untouchable: a man living for years with HIV, a grandmother raising her grandchildren alone after loss and flood. At Bilan, she has found the freedom and safety to pursue a different kind of journalism — one that puts the vulnerable, not politics and conflict, at the centre of the story.
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