Interview with Mobinah Ahmad – Managing Editor of Australasian Muslim Times (AMUST)

Mobinah Ahmad is the managing editor of Australasian Muslim Times (AMUST) which highlights positive news and brings to light issues within multicultural communities. She is also an executive officer of the Australia Arab Chamber of Commerce & Industry NSW and works with the Australian Human Rights Commission. Mobinah organised the largest Eid festival in Australia, ‘The Multicultural Eid Festival & Fair’. She has extensive experience in being a social media analyst and consultant, a professional photographer and filmmaker, multimedia journalist, project and event manager.

What are you looking forward to doing the most once the coronavirus pandemic is over?

During this time, I’ve been quite reflective and using the current situation as an opportunity to think about what was working and what wasn’t. When you’re so caught up in the role, there’s little time for reflection. After the pandemic is over, we look forward to attending and reporting on community events and news. I definitely do miss going to events where I maintain existing relationships as well meeting new people.

For a press release to stand out to you, what should it contain?

This depends on the nature of the content, but I think having all the important information at the top is so necessary. It should be no more than one page. Including a quote or some type of research is also a good idea.

Describe your role as the managing editor of AMUST and what it involves.

As managing editor, my role at AMUST is to ensure that the news platform runs smoothly. From logistics, operations, to relationship management, I tend to look into the details and to look for any areas of improvement. Once I identify where we can be more efficient, I come up and present the team with solutions and new ideas. 

What is the target audience of the Australasian Muslim Times?

AMUST caters to a very wide target audience, which is one of the qualities we are most proud of. Whilst a lot of the content is about Muslims and we have a heavy level of engagement with people from this particular community, it also serves as a valued educational platform for those who are of other faiths or no faith, to learn more about Islam and Muslims. The news platform also offers articles about other faiths and many different cultures. It does not specify a type of religion or level of religiosity; we cover all types of faithful people from the entire spectrum.

How does AMUST provide a platform for voices that are marginalised in mainstream media?

AMUST has had rapid growth in the past few years and in that time, we have been recognised for the significant gap that we’re covering in Community News. There needs to be more positive news coming out from multicultural communities to highlight the great work they are doing as well as to counteract the negative news being churned out. We have rarely refused anyone to publish their story or an issue they are passionate about. Giving marginalised voices a platform is such a privilege and we’re grateful to have the opportunity to do so. Receiving multiple awards from the Premier over the years was very encouraging and it’s given us more of an emphasis to keep getting bigger and stronger.