Sham Jaff
Sham Jaff is an award-winning journalist and media entrepreneur in Berlin, Germany. As a journalist, she is the host of several popular podcasts covering migration, racism and its intersectional as well as global dynamics, centering the perspective of those affected by it. As a media entrepreneur, she's passionate about building multi-lingual platforms and journalistic products for/by marginalized voices in the West. Born in Slemani, Kurdistan, Iraq, she moved to Germany at the age of nine.Since 2014, she writes the award-winning newsletter 'what happened last week', a weekly curation of voices, events and perspectives from/about Asia, Africa and Latin America. You can subscribe here.Jaff has also contributed to taz, Der Freitag, Deutschlandfunk, and other publications and podcasts and has been a mentor at 'Journalism Innovators Program 2021' at the Hamburg Media School in Germany. Jaff sits on the board of Bonn Institute for Journalism and Constructive Dialogue.
Jaff speaks German, English, Kurdish, Arabic and French.Contact her at jaff.sham@gmail.com
Work
Selected highlights2022
Host and Co-Editor of Memento Moria. Was heute an Europas Grenzen passiert – hosted and co-authored the 8-part documentary podcast about the European asylum system and its many flaws, with a specific focus on the Greece/Turkey and Poland/Belarus border. (German)Host of Speaking Refugee. The VULNER podcast – hosted the 6-part podcast about the VULNER project, a research project funded by the European Union that aims to understand the vulnerabilities faced by migrants, to enable decision-makers to better identify positions of vulnerabilities and address them. (English)Producer of Baynana. Ein Podcast über sexuelle Aufklärung auf Arabisch – conceptualized the 6-part podcast by pro familia Nürnberg on sex education in Arabic to better make available services and information for a wider audience outside of individual 1:1 meetings. (Arabic)Member of Board of Trustees of Bonn Institute for Journalism and Constructive Dialogue – Together with organisations and individuals in the media industry, the Bonn Institute explores how journalism needs to change if it wants to remain relevant tomorrow.2021Host and Co-Editor of *190220 – Ein Jahr nach Hanau * (recipient of the Online Grimme Award 2021 in the category "Information") – hosted and co-authored the documentary podcast about the racist attack on February 19, 2020 which killed nine people and the many open questions regarding police work in its aftermath.'what happened last week' received the Kultur- und Kreativpilotin 2021 award – received an award for "pioneering journalistic work, using simple language and a focus on global issues" and recognized as one of Germany's most innovative young entrepreneurs. The award is organized by the u-institut für unternehmerisches Denken und Handeln e.V. It is sponsored by the German Federal Government's "Initiative Kultur- und Kreativwirtschaft".Co-Mentor of the "Dear Future" school project on the future of education – co-mentored a school project during the exceptional school year 2020/2021, later showcased in an interactive stage program, exploring the educational issues of the future in performances and audience discussions with educational practitioners, artists and activists at Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin.Mentor of "Journalism Innovators Program 2021" at Hamburg Media School – The Journalism Innovators Program (JIP) at Hamburg Media School is a six-month, advanced training program for journalists and media professionals who are interested in developing a journalism project.2020
Co-Host and Co-Editor of "Wir schaffen das" – Ein Satz, der Deutschland veränderte – co-hosted and co-authored the 8-part podcast series which takes a closer and more inquisitive look five years after the historic decision by then-German chancellor Angela Merkel to "welcome" close to one million refugees2019-today
Writer of a weekly column at politics podcast Die Wochendämmerung – I contribute with a weekly column dedicated to headlines from Asia, Africa and Latin America. The podcast is hosted by Katrin Rönicke and Holger Klein.2014–today
Creator and editor-in-chief of what happened last week – created a weekly newsletter centering voices, events and perspectives from/about Asia, Africa and Latin America. The newsletter has received extensive media attention, for example at Süddeutsche Zeitung, taz, SBS, turi2, Deutsche Welle, Bayerischer Rundfunk, and many more. Jaff writes the newsletter since.2014–2016
Co-founded and editor-in-chief of Nipster – online interview magazine dedicated to showcase the young entrepreneurial spirit in the city of Nuremberg, Germany.Freelance journalist with nuernbergundso.de, Nürnberger Zeitung, Nürnberger Nachrichten, Your Middle East, and many other publications