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Dunja Hayali (born 6 June 1974) is a German journalist and television presenter for public broadcaster ''
ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...
''. She has an interest in sports, and is also known for her social activism.


Early life and education

Hayali is the daughter of
Assyrians Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from ot ...
from
Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...
. Her mother is
Chaldean Catholic The Chaldean Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic particular church ('' sui iuris'') in full communion with the Holy See and the rest of the Catholic Church, and is headed by the Chaldean Patriarchate. Employing in its liturgy the East Syri ...
, and her father is
Syriac Orthodox The Syriac Orthodox Church (), also informally known as the Jacobite Church, is an Oriental Orthodox denomination that originates from the Church of Antioch. The church currently has around 4-5 million followers. The church upholds the Mia ...
. Hayali herself was a Catholic and was an
altar server An altar server is a laity, lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a Christian liturgy. An altar server attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell, helping bring up the gifts, and bringi ...
when she was young. However, she has left the church. Her parents initially moved from Baghdad to
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, Austria, to study medicine and pharmacy. At the time of Hayali's birth, her father ran his own practice in
Datteln Datteln is a town in the district of Recklinghausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the biggest canal junction in the world, where the Datteln-Hamm Canal, Wesel-Datteln Canal, Dortmund-Ems Canal, and Rhein-Herne Canal i ...
, where her mother helped out. Hayali's older brother is also a doctor, and her older sister first worked as a physician's assistant and later in a hospital. In her youth, Hayali intensively pursued various sports. She played volleyball and soccer, trained judo and played tennis as a competitive sport until the age of 15. Hayali studied at the German Sport University in
Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
from 1995 to 1999, majoring in "Media and Communication". During her studies, she completed internships at German radio and television stations.


Career


Early beginnings

After graduation, Hayali worked as a sports presenter for
Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...
in Cologne and Bonn, as a freelancer for the private station Radio Cologne and as a presenter of the news program ''Journal'' on
DW-TV DW-TV () is a German multilingual TV news network of Deutsche Welle. Focussing on news and informational programming, it first started broadcasting 1 April 1992. DW broadcasts on satellite and is uplinked from Berlin. DW's English broadcast ...
in Berlin. Additionally, she presented some sports and news broadcasts on tv.nrw, a regional TV station in
North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...
that ceased operations in mid-2005.


ZDF, 2007–present

In April 2007, Hayali became the anchor of
ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...
's daily news programme ''
heute ''heute'' (; German for ''today'') is a television news program on the German channel ZDF. The main program is broadcast at 19:00, and includes news, with an emphasis on political news from Germany, Europe and the world, plus 'mixed' news from ...
'', including both the weekday ''heute – in Deutschland'' and the weekend editions. She co-anchored of the ''
heute-journal ''heute-journal'' (roughly ''Today's Journal'') is a German television news program broadcast on ZDF. History The programme premiered on 2 January 1978 as a late weekday evening 20 minute program. Originally, it was broadcast at 9 p.m. Monday ...
'', usually with chief anchor
Steffen Seibert Steffen Rüdiger Seibert (born 7 June 1960 in Munich) is a German journalist and former television host who serves as German Ambassador to Israel. He previously served as head of the German Federal Government's Press and Information Office and a ...
. Hayali has also been hosting the ' since October 2007. In October 2010 she succeeded as chief anchor of the second half of the programme, from 7 to 9 am. Her last appearance as co-host on ''heute-journal'' was on 21 September 2010. In summer 2015 and 2016, Hayali stood in for
Maybrit Illner Maybrit Illner (née Klose; born 12 January 1965) is a German journalist and television presenter. Education Born in East Berlin, Illner went to school in the Friedrichshain area of Berlin and studied journalism at the University of Leipzig fr ...
as host of the ZDF program ''ZDFdonnerstalk''. The talk magazine was broadcast seven times in 2017 under the new title ''Dunja Hayali''. From July 2018, it was broadcast once a month. In 2021, the show was discontinued. In 2023, Hayali re-joined the ''heute-journal'', this time as anchor in rotation with
Marietta Slomka Marietta Slomka (born 20 April 1969 in Cologne) is a German journalist who has been the anchor of TV news show Heute Journal, ''heute-journal'' since 2001. Education The daughter of a teacher, Slomka studied international politics and economics ...
,
Christian Sievers Christian Sievers (born 1969 in Offenbach am Main) is a German journalist and evening news anchor. Career After graduating secondary school with his ''Abitur'' in 1989, Sievers studied law in Berlin and Freiburg. During his studies, he also wor ...
and Anne Gellinek. Among other international leaders, Hayali has interviewed
Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...
of Germany (2012),
Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
Sebastian Kurz Sebastian Kurz (; born 27 August 1986) is an Austrian former politician who served twice as Chancellor of Austria, first from 2017 to 2019 and then again from 2020 to 2021. Kurz was born and raised in Meidling, Vienna. He entered politics by ...
of Austria (2018) and former U.S. Secretary of State
John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...
(2021). In addition to her work for ZDF, she has also been a presenter at events such as the 2012 Berlin Conference on Renewable Energy, organised by the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (''Bundesverband der Energie- und Wasserwirtschaft'').


Other activities

* DFL Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2017) * Save the Children Germany, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2015)


Public engagement


Commitment to Open Dialogue

In March 2017, Hayali gave an interview to the weekly newspaper Junge Freiheit. In it, she pleaded for open dialogue regardless of political positions: "We must be able to put up with each other's opinions without immediately denigrating them or getting personal." She called for journalists to treat citizens with understanding and respect and vice versa. Although journalists will sometimes make mistakes, this is not automatically fake news. The interview led to controversial reactions. Heribert Prantl, German journalist and jurist, spoke of a mistake, since Hayali was paving the way for a new readership for the newspaper that "does not necessarily feel at home on the far right." Jan Fleischhauer, also a German journalist, countered that anyone who was not a politician did not have to worry about driving up the newspaper's circulation: "They do their thing. They ask me, I give them an answer." Hayali commented on the criticism on Twitter.


Commitment to children and young people

Dunja Hayali has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the DFL Foundation, a charitable foundation dedicated to social projects since 2017.


Commitment against hate speech

In her speech at the awards ceremony of the
Goldene Kamera The Goldene Kamera ("Golden Camera") is an annual German film and television award, awarded by the Funke Mediengruppe. The award show was usually held in early February in Hamburg, but also took place in Berlin on occasion. It has been paused ...
award on 6 February 2016, she also addressed the hatred she has been facing for some time. She said, "In a country where freedom of expression is such a high good, everyone is allowed and must be able to express their concerns and their fears without immediately being put in the right-wing Nazi corner. However, if you make racist comments, then you are a racist, dammit." She received a standing ovation in the hall for her speech.


Commitment against racism and xenophobia

Hayali is a supporter of the association ''Gesicht Zeigen!'' As an ambassador, she supports the initiative ''Respekt! Kein Platz für Rassismus.'' In 2018, Hayali was awarded the
Federal Cross of Merit The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...
on Ribbon for her commitment against racism and
xenophobia Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...
.


Criticism and orders from the industry

Dunja Hayali was criticized because, in addition to her job as a journalist, she also moderated trade conventions for companies and events in the gambling industry. She received money from
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
and
BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...
, among others. This was reported in 2018 by the media magazine Zapp from NDR. She herself does not see this as a loss of impartiality in her critical work as a professional journalist, as it is not a matter of advertising appearances. "I often make myself available on a voluntary basis or ask to donate the intended honorarium", she emphasized. "Just as, by the way, I donate any prize money I receive through awards."


Awards

* 2016:
Goldene Kamera The Goldene Kamera ("Golden Camera") is an annual German film and television award, awarded by the Funke Mediengruppe. The award show was usually held in early February in Hamburg, but also took place in Berlin on occasion. It has been paused ...
in the category Best Information * 2016: Robert-Geisendörfer-Preis: Special jury prize for exemplary journalistic or artistic achievements * 2016:
Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia The Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia () is a civil Order (honour), order of merit, of the Germany, German States of Germany, State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia was founded on 11 March 1986. It is ...
* 2016: Annemarie Renger Award of the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Deutschland * 2017: Radio Regenbogen Award for Media Woman 2016 * 2017:
Theodor Heuss Theodor Heuss (; 31 January 1884 – 12 December 1963) was a German liberal politician who served as the first president of West Germany from 1949 to 1959. His civil demeanour and his cordial nature – something of a contrast to German nati ...
Medal of the Theodor Heuss Foundation * 2018: Benedict Prize of
Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Netherlands, Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, th ...
for value-oriented and against the background of the Christian-occidental experiences in a special way outstanding action * 2018:
Federal Cross of Merit The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...
with Ribbon * 2019: „Die Blaue Zunge" * 2020: Tolerance Award of the Protestant Academy of
Tutzing Tutzing is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district of Starnberg (district), Starnberg in Bavaria, Germany, on the west bank of the Starnberger See. Just 40 km south-west of Munich and with good views of the Alps, the town wa ...
in the category Civil Courage * 2020: Walter Lübcke Democracy Award (together with Robert Erkan and the "Mobile Counseling System against Right-Wing Extremism and Racism - for Democratic Culture in
Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...
")


Personal life

Hayali has extensive
tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing processes ...
s on her right arm and back; these were first seen at the presentation of the
Deutscher Fernsehpreis The Deutscher Fernsehpreis (''German Television Award'') is an annual German award for television programming, created in 1999, by German television channels Das Erste, ZDF, RTL (German TV channel), RTL and Sat.1. It was created to be an equivalen ...
on 9 October 2010 in Cologne; on television they had always been covered. Hayali is
lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...
; in 2008 she announced that since 2007 she had been in a relationship with Mareike Arning, the vocalist of the punk-pop band Uschi's Orchester. The couple separated in 2011. In February 2016, the State Court of
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
issued a
preliminary injunction An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable reme ...
forbidding a
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
user from making offensive hate comments on Hayali's Facebook page and setting a fine of up to €250,000 for any violations of the injunction.


Publications

* with Elena Senft. ''Is' was, Dog? Mein Leben mit Hund und Haaren''. Berlin: Ullstein, 2014, ; 2015, . * ''Haymatland: Wie wollen wir zusammenleben?''. Berlin: Ullstein, 2018


References

Other sources * "Dunja Hayali", in: ''Internationales Biographisches Archiv'' 06/2011, 8 February 2011,
Munzinger-Archiv Munzinger-Archiv is a German Publishing, publisher and online encyclopedia based in the Baden-Württemberg city of Ravensburg. The content of the archive includes entries about people in politics, business, culture, sport, music and society, abou ...

free preview
.


External links

*
Dunja Hayali
on
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

Profile
at Barbarella Entertainment * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayali, Dunja 1974 births Living people German women television presenters German broadcast news analysts German women radio presenters German people of Iraqi descent German people of Assyrian descent Lesbian journalists German LGBTQ broadcasters German LGBTQ journalists German women television journalists 21st-century German journalists Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany People from Datteln ZDF people 21st-century German women journalists 20th-century German LGBTQ people 21st-century German LGBTQ people