Al Jazeera’s Malika Bilal wins Gracie Award for best podcast host

Al Jazeera Digital has won a Gracie Award (PDF) for excellence in work produced by, for, and about women.

The award went to Malika Bilal, the host of The Take, Al Jazeera Digital’s flagship news and current affairs podcast.

In three weekly installments, The Take builds on the global reportage of Al Jazeera English journalists, local experts, and people living at the centre of some of the world’s biggest news stories.

The Take has extensively covered world politics, racial inequality, the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, the war in Ukraine and much more.

Adding to previous Gracie wins, the March 30 announcement marked the fourth time that Al Jazeera Digital was honoured with top prizes in the competition. Presented by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWMF), it was also the second time Bilal fetched the top prize in the Podcast Host – News category.

“We’re very proud of Malika and The Take podcast team,” said Carlos van Meek, Al Jazeera’s director of digital innovation and programming.

“Week in week out, the team covers the most pressing news and current affairs stories of our time in a thoughtful and understanding way. Having Malika as our host is the secret sauce that provides the show with character and grace.”

“It’s a real treat to be recognised among such excellent company,” Bilal said from The Take‘s Washington, DC office.

“And to be honoured twice is a testament to the hard work of the team of talented journalists who make The Take the intimate, informative audio journey that it is – one that makes it a point to centre the voices of women and their experiences around the world at the heart of so many of our stories.”

Held across dozens of categories, the competition drew entries and winners from a variety of news and entertainment outlets, including National Public Radio, Washington Post, CBS News, 60 Minutes, 48 Hours, Vice, Wondery and Spotify.

Meghan Markle, the duchess of Sussex, won in a sister category – Podcast Host – Entertainment – for her Spotify series, Archetypes, in which she interviews accomplished women about the ways they have overcome stereotypes and tropes that have held women back.

News and entertainment celebrities who won in other categories included journalist Katie Couric, actress Christina Applegate, singer Faith Hill and podcaster Alex Cooper.

Al Jazeera Digital’s women-led news and current affairs video explainer team, Start Here, also emerged with a second place Honourable Mention for its on-location coverage of Afghan women.

In its on-the-road explainer, What Women in Afghanistan want you to know, the host of Start Here, Sandra Gathmann, and executive producer Julia Mills reported on what life is like for women after Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in 2021. Gathmann was also honourably mentioned in the 2022 Gracie competition.

The Gracie Awards Gala will take place on May 23, at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles, where the AWMF will honour the outstanding work of women in TV, radio, and digital media.