Anissa Naouai

American journalist

Anissa Naouai

Born|  (1982-08-17) August 17, 1982 (age 42)[1]

New York City, U.S.

Education| Hunter College
Moscow Art Theatre
Occupation| Journalist
Notable credit(s)| In the Now
Maffick Media
Children| 2

Anissa Naouai (born August 17, 1982)[2] is an American journalist and former television presenter. She is the CEO of Maffick Media, a Berlin-based digital media company with Russian links, as of February 2019.[3]

## Early life

[edit]

Naouai was born in New York City and is of Tunisian and German-American descent.[4]

In 2000–2001, Naouai studied at Hunter College City University of New York. In 2001, at age 19,[2] she entered the school-studio at Moscow Art Theatre (MAT), graduating in 2005.[5] As a student she starred in performances as Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare), Rose in The Rose Tattoo (Tennessee Williams), and Mom in True West (Sam Shepard).[6]

## Career

[edit]

### Acting

[edit]

Naouai was a member of the international theater company Studio 6 with the Moscow Art Theater.[7][8] Naouai performed the audiobook The School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan in English for Russian company ArdisBook.[9]

### Documentary filmmaking

[edit]

She produced the documentary film Isklyuchitelism (Exceptionalism in English), which was shown on NTV.[10][11] Zashto?, another work she co-produced, was awarded Best Documentary Film by Cubavision International.[12]

### Journalism

[edit]

#### Russia Today

[edit]

CNN reported that, according to her LinkedIn page, Naouai was a correspondent for RT from 2006, and a long-term friend of its Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan.[3] Naouai appeared on the program What's going on? on REN TV, anchored by Simonyan.[13] From 2009, Naouai anchored the program In the Now for RT. The program brand has since expanded into a cross-channel digital platform that offers content via a variety of social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube).

On September 2, 2014, on her program In the Now, the general producer of the Ukraine Today channel Tetiana Pushnova accused RT of lying in her opening remarks before promptly leaving the interview, displaying the message "Russia Today Stop Lie."[citation needed] In an exchange with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Naouai said RT's job was “closing the holes” in mainstream Western channels’ coverage, and said that the Kremlin funded it because Vladimir Putin “wants … Russia to be respected, mutually respected on an equal playing base, and he wants dialogue to prevail.”[14]

In 2017, she told Christian Science Monitor, "I don't think I'm working for an adversary, despite some elements in the American media-political establishment trying to position RT as such... In fact, I think my work, and RT overall, helps improve public discourse in the US by completing the picture of current affairs and introducing diverse voices into the debate at large."[15]

#### Maffick

[edit]

See also: Maffick

Naouai was the Chief Executive Officer of the Berlin-based media production company Maffick GmbH, which acquired In the Now in 2018.[16] Maffick's majority shareholder was Ruptly, a subsidiary of the Russian RT network.[3][17] Maffick Media's Facebook accounts were suspended in 2019 after investigations by CNN and T-online revealed ties to RT and Ruptly. Maffick was defended by RT, which said no official requests to explain the websites were filed with Maffick, and blamed CNN for the controversy, as well as by RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.[18] The pages were restored later that month after disclosing their ownership. For example, Soapbox's "About" section now read: "'Soapbox' is a political opinion brand of Maffick, which is owned and operated by Anissa Naouai and Ruptly GmbH, a subsidiary of RT".[19] Naouai then founded Maffick LLC, incorporated in Summer 2019, after moving to Los Angeles and reincorporated its former channels in the new company.[20] The disclosure about Russian state ownership was removed from Maffick's accounts after the new incorporation.[20] In June 2020, Facebook labeled Maffick LLC's accounts "state-controlled" due to their connections to RT.[21] The company sued Facebook in the Northern District of California in July 2020 for defamation and monetary damages from lost internet traffic.[22][23][24] Maffick's case was dismissed after it was ruled that the company had not proven permanent damage and had largely not disputed Facebook's allegations.[25] In July 2020, Twitter also started labelling Maffick content as “state-affiliated”; Naouai said she would contest this.[26]

#### Resignation

[edit]

On February 28, 2022, Naouai terminated Maffick's service agreement with RT and called for peace following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[27][28]

## Awards

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New York Festivals finalist for Best News Analysis/Commentary for In the Now on RT (2016).[29]

## Personal life

[edit]

Naouai is married and has two children.[30]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Company register". www.unternehmensregister.de. Retrieved March 31, 2021.[permanent dead link]
2. ^ a b Russia 24 (January 14, 2013). "Понять Россию: иностранцы о Булгакове, русской душе и свободе". Russia 24. Retrieved April 15, 2017.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
3. ^ a b c O'Sullivan, Donie; Griffin, Drew; Devine, Curt; Shubert, Atika (February 18, 2019). "Russia is backing a viral video company aimed at American millennials". CNN. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
4. ^ "Anissa Naouai on Twitter: "Tunisia". October 18, 2015. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
5. ^ "Экспаты в России". Cosmopolitan Russia (in Russian). February 18, 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
6. ^ Студия АРДИС. "Anissa Naouai". ardisbook.ru. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
7. ^ Studio Six. "Studio Six Moscow Art Actors: Anissa Naouai". Studio Six. Archived from the original on April 16, 2017. Retrieved April 15, 2017.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
8. ^ J. R. O'Dwyer Company. "Russian TV Host Naouai, CNN's Amanpour 'Duke it Out'". O'Dwyer's. Archived from the original on April 4, 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2017.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
9. ^ ЛитРес. "The School for Scandal Audiobook". litres.ru. Archived from the original on April 16, 2017. Retrieved April 15, 2017.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
10. ^ ntv.ru. ""Isklyuchitelism". Film Anissa Naue". vesti.ru. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
11. ^ ria.ru. "Зеркальное телевидение: "ХИТ" и другие программные истории". ria.ru. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
12. ^ ria.ru (October 28, 2014). "Фильм "Зашто?" российского RT выиграл международный конкурс на Кубе". ria.ru. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
13. ^ Glory Taroschina (April 19, 2011). "Верните Невзорова с Доренко!". gazeta.ru. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
14. ^ Lloyd, John (December 29, 2014). "Russian, Chinese 'news' coming to a TV near you". Reuters. Archived from the original on December 30, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
15. ^ The Christian Science Monitor (January 17, 2017). "Inside the belly of Russia's 'propaganda machine': A visit to RT news channel". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
16. ^ Wiebe, Jan-Henrik (October 18, 2018). "Russlands heimliche Medienzentrale in Europa". t-online (in German). Retrieved October 30, 2018.
17. ^ Birnbaum, Emily (February 25, 2019). "Facebook restores previously suspended Russia-linked pages". The Hill. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
18. ^ Villasanta, Arthur (November 15, 2020). "Russia's RT Slams Facebook For Suspending Anti-US, Pro-Kremlin Viral Video Channels". International Business Times. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
19. ^ Birnbaum, Emily (February 25, 2019). "Facebook restores previously suspended Russia-linked pages". The Hill. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
20. ^ a b "Facebook, FARA and Foreign Media". Lawfare. September 16, 2020. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
21. ^ Binder, Matt (July 30, 2020). "Facebook sued by news media outlet over 'Russia state-controlled' label". Mashable. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
22. ^ "MAFFICK LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, Plaintiff, v. FACEBOOK, INC., a Delaware corporation, and Does 1-10, inclusive, Defendants" (PDF). Courtlistener.com. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
23. ^ "Social Media Company Sues Facebook for 'Russia State-Controlled Media' Label - The Recorder". The Recorder. July 30, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
24. ^ "Russian-backed sites keep targeting U.S. voters after Facebook actions". NBC News. October 9, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
25. ^ "UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA. MAFFICK LLC, Plaintiff, v. FACEBOOK, INC., Defendant" (PDF). September 3, 2020.
26. ^ "Tech platforms struggle to label state-controlled media". Committee to Protect Journalists. August 12, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
27. ^ Anissa Naouai [@AnissaNow] (February 28, 2022). "Today I cut all ties with @RT. I have terminated @Maffick's service agreement with the channel and severed all contact. Full stop" (Tweet). Archived from the original on February 28, 2022 - via Twitter.
28. ^ Buckby, Jack (March 9, 2022). "Putin's Propaganda Arm Is Toast: Russia Today (RT) Is Dying". 19fortyfive.com. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
29. ^ New York Festivals World's Best TV & Films 2016 (2016). "Finalist Certificate :: Best News Analysis/Commentary :: Russia". newyorkfestivals.com. Archived from the original on April 16, 2017. Retrieved April 15, 2017.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
30. ^ Russia 24. "Understand Russia: foreigners about Bulgakov, the Russian soul and freedom". vesti.ru. Retrieved April 15, 2017.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)