Tasmin Mahfuz (born May 28, 1987) is an American television journalist and news anchor. In December 2015, Mahfuz, a

Gracie award The Gracie Awards are awards presented by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWM) in the United States, to celebrate and honor programming created for women, by women, and about women, as well as individuals who have made exemplary contr ...

recipient, joined WDVM, formerly known as WHAG, as an evening

news anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

, making her the first Bengali-American woman to anchor a nightly

newscast News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or tele ...

Early life and education

Mahfuz was born and raised in Florida, the daughter of Abdul and Nazmun Mahfuz. Her parents are both of Bangladeshi descent. Her father, Abdul, is a businessman and philanthropist, emigrated to the United States in 1979 when he was 19 years old from

Chittagong, Bangladesh Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

. One of his many charitable projects includes an all-girls high school in

Chandanaish Chandanaish () is a town in Chittagong District in the division of Chittagong, Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, e ...

, Bangladesh, for rural girls to receive an education, which otherwise was impossible for women in the area due to distance and poverty. Currently, a college is in the planning and development stages adjacent to the high school. Nazmun produced and hosted weekly television shows for South Florida's PBS and WLRN. She attended high school at The King's Academy in West Palm Beach and went on to complete a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

from

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

in 2009. Following her graduation, Mahfuz took part in a two-year internship at the United Nations.

Career

In 2012, she joined Ebru TV, an international network, and reported from

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, New York City and

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. Her assignments included covering the devastation after

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as Superstorm Sandy) was an extremely large and devastating tropical cyclone which ravaged the Caribbean and the coastal Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States in late ...

and the Sandy Hook shooting in

Newtown, Connecticut Newtown ( ) is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is part of the Greater Danbury area as well as the New York metropolitan area. Newtown was founded in 1705, and later incorporated in 1711. As of the 2020 census, its p ...

. Mahfuz reported from the United Nations, providing

Breaking news Breaking news, also called late-breaking news, a special report, special coverage, or a news flash, is a current issue that warrants the interruption of a scheduled broadcast in order to report its details. News broadcasters also use the term ...

from the

UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its 79th session, its powers, ...

, on US–Iran relations, the Crimean annexation and developments in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. In August 2014, Mahfuz joined ABC 4 Utah as a reporter/ Southern Utah Bureau Chief. She launched the station's first TV news bureau in St. George and was responsible for covering 20,000 square miles with a population of over 200,000 people by herself. Mahfuz joined

WDVM-TV WDVM-TV (channel 25) is an independent television station licensed to Hagerstown, Maryland, United States, serving the Washington, D.C., television market. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside CW owned-and-operated station WDCW (chan ...

in December 2015 as a full-time evening

. She anchors the weeknight news from 5–5:30 pm, 6–8 p.m. and 10–11:30 p.m. to audiences in the Washington DC market, which includes

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several County (United States), counties and independent city (United States), independent cities in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. ...

and regions within

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Awards

Mahfuz won the Alliance of Women in Media's

Gracie Award The Gracie Awards are awards presented by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWM) in the United States, to celebrate and honor programming created for women, by women, and about women, as well as individuals who have made exemplary contr ...

for Outstanding Producer in TV news in June 2015. The Society of Professional Journalists – Utah Chapter presented Mahfuz an award for her reports as a

multimedia journalist Multimedia journalism is the practice of contemporary journalism that distributes news content either using two or more media formats via the Internet, or disseminating news report via multiple media platforms.Multimedia journalists(MMJ) wear the ...

in 2015. In 2015 and 2017, the Federation of Bangladeshi Associations in North America recognized Mahfuz for her work in mainstream journalism as a 2nd generation Bengali-American.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahfuz, Tasmin 1987 births Living people People from West Palm Beach, Florida Emory University alumni American women television journalists 20th-century American women 21st-century American women journalists 21st-century American journalists