Beenish Ahmed is one of Michigan Radio’s Detroit-based reporters. Since 2016, she has been a reporter for WNYC Public Radio in New York and also a freelance journalist. Her stories have appeared on NPR, as well as in The New Yorker, Harper’s, The Atlantic, VICE and The Daily Beast. Additionally, Beenish spent two years in Islamabad, Pakistan, working with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, covering the country’s first democratic transition of power as well as Pakistan’s education system.
Much of her reporting has focused on covering under-reported stories and adding nuance to major headlines. That included covering stories related to DACA and the #MeToo movement as well as reporting on the personal challenges Muslims in metro Detroit faced in taking a public stand against President Trump’s so-called “Muslim ban.”
She is a graduate of the University of Michigan and has a master’s degree from the University of Cambridge. She was also a Spencer Fellow at the Columbia School of Journalism in New York, and an NPR Kroc Fellow.
Contributions from Beenish Ahmed
- Dearborn needs Arabic-language election materials, Arab-American advocates say
Last Election Day, Nada El-Hanooti was at a polling site in Dearborn Heights when she noticed a Lebanese woman sitting on a ledge who reminded her of her grandmother. "’I never leave my house,’” … - The creatures at the Belle Isle Aquarium look forward to your visit
The Belle Isle Aquarium will reopen on Friday, relieving the ennui that has set in among fish, eels, and frogs since the building closed to visitors last March as a response to the onset of the pandem … - Many Detroit businesses left reeling from the flood
The water from heavy rainfall that filled the workshop where Nikki’s Ginger Tea brews and bottles its signature drinks has receded, but not without causing long term damage to the bottled beverage com … - Flooding strands vehicles, soaks basements across metro Detroit, creates AT&T outages
Update: June 30, 2021 – 7:15 a.m. Tens of thousands of Michiganders are without power Wednesday morning. That’s after storms Tuesday afternoon knocked more homes offline while crews were still working … - Now Detroit is flooded with calls for help and repairs
The flood waters that filled basements and streets in Detroit on Saturday are being characterized as a 500-year event in preliminary findings by the city, meaning there’s only a half percent chance it …