Mona Abudiab is a Senior News Producer, Reporter, and Documentary Filmmaker at Sky News Arabia in Abu Dhabi, specializing in short documentaries, field reporting, and news coverage. She holds a Diploma in TV Journalism from Moscow State University and brings over twenty years of experience across Arab and international media, including Sky News Arabia, Al Hurra TV, Dubai TV, and Syrian TV. Mona has completed professional training with Reuters, France 2, the Arab League Training Center, and the U.S. Institute of Foreign Education, and holds a Certified Professional Trainer Diploma from ILLAFTrain and IMI Media Academy. Her work focuses on conflict coverage, human-impact storytelling, and narrative-driven field reporting, earning recognition such as the Telly Awards and the Arab Media Award in Dubai. Fluent in Arabic and Russian, with working proficiency in English, she remains committed to factual, research-based, and visually compelling documentary content.
How many years have you been a judge?
This is my first year!
What excited you about judging for the Telly Awards?
Being part of this exciting journey, meeting new people, and connecting with great creative minds really excites me. I love being part of the process of connecting the dots across the world and helping bring the best ideas and stories to the surface—for the benefit of humanity.
What was your first job in the industry? What did it teach you?
I started my career as a newsroom journalist and field reporter. The most important lesson I learned is that people’s stories are the most powerful and honest. To tell them well, you must truly listen, connect, and approach each story with an open and sensitive heart. Being emotional is not a weakness—it’s a strength, as long as it is balanced with accuracy, fact-checking, and honesty. Empathy and integrity are what make storytelling meaningful and impactful.
What project are you most proud to have worked on?
Children of ISIS families in the camps in Syria who have been left behind.
What’s the most challenging part about your job and/or the industry?
To reach the right people and break the ice, you need to earn their trust and make them feel safe to open up. Working in unpredictable field conditions while maintaining accuracy, sensitivity, and empathy is always a challenge. Covering conflict, humanitarian crises, and sensitive social issues requires balancing speed with careful reporting, ensuring that the human stories are never lost in the urgency of breaking news
What do you look for to determine excellence in video?
For me, excellence in video comes from a smooth, powerful, and moving storyline. I look for footage that communicates on its own, where images speak as loudly as words—or even without them. A truly excellent piece leaves me with emotions and questions that linger, challenging my thinking or opening my eyes to new perspectives. It is about the lasting impact that stays with you long after the screen goes dark.
What are your current roles and responsibilities and what do you love most about your job?
I am part of the documentary and investigative reporting team at Sky News Arabia, creating original stories that matter and focus on key issues in our region. I love exploring the humanitarian side of events, uncovering stories that have real impact, and bringing them to the audience. I also work on training initiatives, helping others improve their storytelling and visual impact in news and documentaries.
What initiatives or projects are you working on now that excite you?
Stories from Syria – Re-Telling the stories of the People from the Coast .
Do you have any specific practices you lean on to spark creativity?
Keep dreaming .. Go back to Music .. dancing out of nowhere sometimes ..! On the other hand: I try to observe people closely, listening and paying attention to details that reveal emotions and context. I also brainstorm with my team, because collaboration often brings perspectives I wouldn’t see alone
What inspired you to pursue your career path?
As a child, I dreamed of making the world a closer, better, and happier place for everyone. What inspired me to pursue this field later in life is the same idea, but now more realistic: to do my best with passion, to make the voices of the unheard heard, to speak loudly for those who cannot, and to ensure their stories are not forgotten. I have always been inspired by the power of real stories to create awareness, empathy, and change.
In your experience, what is a significant change you are seeing happen in the video, television, and/or film industry, and what insight can you share about how to navigate it?
One significant change is the integration of AI and data-driven tools in production, from story discovery to content personalization. While technology can improve efficiency, the challenge is maintaining editorial integrity and human storytelling. My insight: use technology to handle structure and scale, but keep the human judgment, empathy, and creative vision at the center of every story.
