Zahraa Badr is a PhD student at USC Annenberg. In her research, Badr aspires to bring scholarly attention to the Global South, especially the Arab World. Her current research interests focus on critical culture studies, exploring how identity, gender, religion, and location influence publicity and media narratives, as well as subjectivity, identity, and being.

Before joining USC, she was an Assistant Lecturer at Cairo University, where she also received her MA and BA in Journalism and Mass Communication. In her previous research, she studied media ownership concentration, diversity, and the public sphere. She also explored questions of stigma, marginalization, and media representation. Her research is published in the International Journal of Press/Politics. She also presented several papers at international conferences, such as the ICA, APSA, ISA, and IAMCR.