South Florida Muslims Meet with The Miami Herald & WLRN

(Miami, FL  08/23/2019) – The South Florida Muslim Federation and its members met with the Editorial Board, Managing Editor of the Miami Herald and WLRN Public Radio to discuss media coverage of the South Florida Muslim community. During the meeting, the Miami Herald, WLRN and the South Florida Muslim community opened lines of communication that did not exist before and discussed ways to work together to make sure South Florida Muslims are given an equal voice on stories that are reported on.

Members of the Federation thanked the Miami Herald for posting the Happy Eid Banners on the Newspaper and honoring the Muslim Community during our holidays. The Miami Herald showed great interest in the Federation and its members to work with on a variety of different news stories on a variety of topics.

“We loved the opportunity that the Federation awarded us to sit at the table with the Editorial Board of this important national media outlet. For many years the South Florida Muslim Community voice was left out of the mainstream media and of the public opinion makers, that’s no longer the case. We are out there, and the media is listening to us”, said Wilfredo Ruiz the Communications Director for CAIR Florida.

Nezar Hamze the Executive Director for the South Florida Muslim Federation says, “ The meeting was very productive and I personally thanked the Miami Herald for giving our community a voice. We invited the Miami Herald and WLRN to broaden the coverage of the Muslim community to include all its diversity. We are especially happy to hear that they want to hear more Muslim Voices.”

Participants of the meeting included; Nancy Ancrum-Editorial and Opinion Editor, Rick Hirsch-Managing Editor, Daniel Rivero- Producer WLRN Public Media, Nezar Hamze-Executive Director of the South Florida Muslim Federation, Wilfredo Ruiz-Communications Director for CAIR Florida, Khalid Mirza- President of the Miami Gardens Masjid, Imran Ali- President of Masjid AL-Ihsan, Jamil Rizvi- President of Islamic Jafferia Association, Yunus Ismail- Board Member of Friends Of Humanity, Inc.

The South Florida Muslim Federation is meeting with various media outlets throughout South Florida to share our concerns and ask for equal coverage of issues and stories that involve the Muslim community.

Media Contact:

Nezar Hamze, Executive Director, The South Florida Muslim Federation

Phone: 954-673-9459, Email: nhamze@soflomuslims.com

The South Florida Muslim Federation is an umbrella of Muslim Organizations based in South Florida. (see www.soflomuslims.com/about).

Below is a list of organizations:

Al-Amin Center

American Islamic Center of Florida

AMANA

Masjid Baitul Mukarram

Basmah

Council of Muslim Student Associations

CAIR Florida

Council of Islamic Schools of South Florida

Darul Uloom Institute

Dawah Islam

Emgage

Friends of Humanity

Helping Hands Relief

Islamic Center of Broward

Islamic Center of Boca Raton

Islamic Center of Weston

Islamic Circle of North America Relief

Islamic Center of South Florida

Islamic Foundation of South Florida

Islamic Jafferia Association

Islamic Relief USA

Islamic School of Miami

Madinatul Uloom Institute

Masjid Al-Ansar

Masjid Al-Hijrah

Masjid Ihsan

Muslim Communities Association

Masjid Jamaat Al’Mu-mineen

MAS of South Florida

Muslim Women’s Organization of South Florida

Nur Ul Islam

South Florida Young Muslims Professionals

Youth Coalition of South Florida

Young Muslims