Davar Ardalan
Encyclopedia
Davar Iran Ardalan is the Senior Producer of NPR's Tell Me More. Prior to Tell Me More at NPR News, Ardalan was in charge of Weekend Edition, and some seven million listener tuned in. From community engagement to innovative ways to engage the public online to news programming choices during a crisis, Ardalan was at the forefront of digital innovation at NPR News. Most recently, Ardalan was in charge of Weekend Edition, two of NPR's most popular newsmagazines. Introducing her own pace and sensibility, Ardalan expanded audience interactivity, integrated social media tools and even encouraged the late legendary newsman Daniel Schorr to tweet, all the while continuing to produce an array of interactive stories on everything from race and politics to the impact of the recession on listeners and the meaning of citizenship. Prior to coming to Weekend Edition, Ardalan worked as a Supervisory Producer on Morning Edition where she helped shape the daily newsmagazine, and was responsible for decisions that required elaborate coordination and planning such as broadcasts from Baghdad, Kabul and New Orleans.
In June, 2009, as a Senior Producer at NPR and through her ancestry and connections in Iran, she received hundreds of documents, photos, tweets, emails and status updates from the front lines of the disputed Iranian election. Those desperate to have their votes counted and their voices heard embraced social media like never before, becoming for a time, the sole outlet for news escaping from Iran. Emerging from the round-ups and riots that shook the nation, Ardalan found a political and social sea-change taking place: unprecedented, direct communication and information that flows over and around any effort to suppress it. One particularly prescient email from Iran read: "Forward this to your friends. You are the media." Ardalan has collected the messages that poured out of Iran and has structured them with interviews, reportage and photographs, presenting not only a dramatic and important moment in Iran's political history and history of women's rights but also a major turning point in the swiftly changing nature of news gathering and media around the world.
In Spring of 2010, Ardalan will be presenting her findings at events at Columbia University on April 17, The Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars on May 14, and the International Society for Iranian Studies in Los Angeles on May 28.
You can read more about the events on her website: www.civicjournalist.com
Early NPR History:
In the Spring of 1995 and again in 1997 with NPR's Jacki Lyden in Tehran
and Ardalan in Washington, the two produced indepth reports on Iran
- examining the re-emergence of criticism and self-expression, Iranian women's struggle to gain rights and the perils facing intellectuals. In April 2002, Ardalan and NPR's Jacki Lyden received a Gracie award from the American Women in Radio and Television for the NPR documentary "Loss and Its Aftermath," the story of Israeli and Palestinian parents speaking about the deaths of their children in the conflict.
Ardalan began as a temporary production assistant in July 1993 and a year later moved to a full-time production assistant position at Weekend Edition Sunday. After spending many years as a field producer, teaming with NPR hosts and correspondents to report on topics including girls in New York City
gangs, gambling in Atlantic City casinos, and Islam
in cyberspace, Ardalan transitioned to Morning Edition in January 2005.
Her full name, Iran Davar Ardalan, inspired the 2004 NPR/American Radioworks series, "My Name is Iran." In the stories she and co-producer Rasool Nafisi explored the country for which she was named, tracing her Iranian heritage and her own experiences after the 1979 Islamic revolution. The struggle of a nation as reflected in her family's story led to her memoir "My Name is Iran" published by Henry Holt.
Ardalan's career in the American media began in 1991 at KOAT-TV in Albuquerque, N.M., A year later, she made the switch to radio as a reporter at KUNM-FM in Albuquerque. She produced award-winning cultural and news stories on health and environmental concerns in Los Alamos
for which she won first place in documentaries from the Associated Press
in New Mexico.
Ardalan earned a B.A. in communications and journalism from the University of New Mexico
. She was born in San Francisco and has also lived and worked in Iran as a television newscaster for IRIB English News. Ardalan attended elementary and middle school at Iranzamin International School in Tehran and graduated from Brookline High School in Brookline, M.A. Away from NPR, she is the mother of four, Saied, Samira, Aman and Amir.
In June, 2009, as a Senior Producer at NPR and through her ancestry and connections in Iran, she received hundreds of documents, photos, tweets, emails and status updates from the front lines of the disputed Iranian election. Those desperate to have their votes counted and their voices heard embraced social media like never before, becoming for a time, the sole outlet for news escaping from Iran. Emerging from the round-ups and riots that shook the nation, Ardalan found a political and social sea-change taking place: unprecedented, direct communication and information that flows over and around any effort to suppress it. One particularly prescient email from Iran read: "Forward this to your friends. You are the media." Ardalan has collected the messages that poured out of Iran and has structured them with interviews, reportage and photographs, presenting not only a dramatic and important moment in Iran's political history and history of women's rights but also a major turning point in the swiftly changing nature of news gathering and media around the world.
In Spring of 2010, Ardalan will be presenting her findings at events at Columbia University on April 17, The Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars on May 14, and the International Society for Iranian Studies in Los Angeles on May 28.
You can read more about the events on her website: www.civicjournalist.com
Early NPR History:
In the Spring of 1995 and again in 1997 with NPR's Jacki Lyden in Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
and Ardalan in Washington, the two produced indepth reports on Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
- examining the re-emergence of criticism and self-expression, Iranian women's struggle to gain rights and the perils facing intellectuals. In April 2002, Ardalan and NPR's Jacki Lyden received a Gracie award from the American Women in Radio and Television for the NPR documentary "Loss and Its Aftermath," the story of Israeli and Palestinian parents speaking about the deaths of their children in the conflict.
Ardalan began as a temporary production assistant in July 1993 and a year later moved to a full-time production assistant position at Weekend Edition Sunday. After spending many years as a field producer, teaming with NPR hosts and correspondents to report on topics including girls in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
gangs, gambling in Atlantic City casinos, and Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
in cyberspace, Ardalan transitioned to Morning Edition in January 2005.
Her full name, Iran Davar Ardalan, inspired the 2004 NPR/American Radioworks series, "My Name is Iran." In the stories she and co-producer Rasool Nafisi explored the country for which she was named, tracing her Iranian heritage and her own experiences after the 1979 Islamic revolution. The struggle of a nation as reflected in her family's story led to her memoir "My Name is Iran" published by Henry Holt.
Ardalan's career in the American media began in 1991 at KOAT-TV in Albuquerque, N.M., A year later, she made the switch to radio as a reporter at KUNM-FM in Albuquerque. She produced award-winning cultural and news stories on health and environmental concerns in Los Alamos
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Los Alamos is a townsite and census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, built upon four mesas of the Pajarito Plateau and the adjoining White Rock Canyon. The population of the CDP was 12,019 at the 2010 Census. The townsite or "the hill" is one part of town while...
for which she won first place in documentaries from the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
in New Mexico.
Ardalan earned a B.A. in communications and journalism from the University of New Mexico
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...
. She was born in San Francisco and has also lived and worked in Iran as a television newscaster for IRIB English News. Ardalan attended elementary and middle school at Iranzamin International School in Tehran and graduated from Brookline High School in Brookline, M.A. Away from NPR, she is the mother of four, Saied, Samira, Aman and Amir.
Sources
NPR Bio- Davar Ardalan tells her story, Cody's Books, San Francisco, CA, January 17, 2007, FORA.tv (35 min 34 sec).