Liala Helal

Information

Concentration: Reporter/Writer
Hometown: Fridley, Minn.
Bio: Liala Helal was born and raised in the Twin Cities metro area (Minneapolis/St. Paul) and is fed up with below-zero temperatures. She’s studying journalism at the University of Minnesota, with minors in psychology and teaching ESL and will graduate in December 2008. Liala has been working with newspapers for about five years. Most recently, she was an intern for the St. Paul Pioneer Press where she covered a variety of beats. She’s also been a writing consultant at college and a reporter for The Minnesota Daily, the largest student-run newspaper in the nation. Liala says she loves breaking news and the unpredictability of newsrooms. She lives by the quote: “The universe is made of stories, not atoms,” by American poet Muriel Rukeyser. In the future, Liala hopes to use her knowledge of Islam and the Arabic language to cover stories in the Middle East.
E-mail: lhelal@poynter.org