MACON, Ga. — Fareeha Abrar joined the team at 13WMAZ in July 2023 as a Multi-Skilled Journalist.
She graduated in May 2023 from the University of Florida, where she studied broadcast journalism with an outside concentration in anthropology.
After transferring from the Pennsylvania State University during the pandemic, she worked for two years at the College of Journalism and Communications as the sole newsroom assistant at the Innovation News Center: home of the north central Florida PBS affiliate station, NPR affiliate station, and WUFT.org.
While at UF, Fareeha pursued her childhood passion to become a journalist. She has reported, produced, anchored and project-managed several broadcasts, including WUFT’s television, radio, podcast, social media and over-the-top (OTT) television products, The Lede and The Breakdown, which she helped to launch.
She interned at WTLV/WJXX, a TEGNA duopoly, in the summer of 2022 at the station she grew up watching in her hometown Jacksonville, Florida.
During her senior year, she worked during Election Night 2022, where she interviewed Mayoral Candidate Ed Bielarski and reported the impact of Hurricane Ian during wall-to-wall coverage in September 2022.
She also has served as a representative on the college’s Dean’s Student Advisory Council during the pandemic.
Fareeha has been recognized for her work by the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications with the John Quattlebaum Award as the Outstanding News Student of the Year 2023.
At UF, she was a member of the Asian American Journalists Association and Asian American Students Association. Fareeha was also the sole historian for Islam on Campus during her junior year and co-show director for the Bengali Students Association’s 10th annual Mother Language Day Show in 2021.
Aside from work, Fareeha has volunteered as a mentor to Muslim-American youth since joining the Young Muslims organization as a teenager during the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) Convention in 2014.
In her free time, Fareeha enjoys dancing, reading, cooking and cheering for her Jacksonville Jaguars and Florida Gators. If she’s not working, she’s cuddling her cat, Billy.
Her first beat assignment is Houston County, and she is excited to share stories with the Central Georgia community.
If you have a news tip or want to say hello, you can reach her at fabrar1@13wmaz.com.