WASHINGTON – Noor Tagouri, the first hijabi American Muslim TV anchor has made an unlikely appearance in Playboy magazine, saying she wants to present Muslim women proudly in the American media.

“To be honest, I think being a hijabi Muslim woman, helped me gain that trust [from interview subjects],” she told Playboy, News.com.au reported on Saturday, September 24.

“I know what it’s like to have the narrative of our community be skewed and exploited in the media. I was like, ‘Hey, I know what it’s like to be misrepresented in the media. I won’t do that to you. I want to tell your story because it’s important and deserves justice’.

“I know first-hand that once people are re-empowered, they realize their own story is powerful and they begin to share. It’s incredibly rewarding and can even help enlighten or save others.”

Tagouri, 22, made her appearance at the magazine in jeans, a leather jacket and Converse sneakers.

The young American Muslim produces stories for Newsy, an American video news network that produces short form video news pieces.

Receiving a lot of hate and criticism online, Tagouri doesn’t “read or pay attention” to any of it.

“It’s just negative energy and unhealthy. I make sure to keep a great circle of people around me who keep me grounded,” she said.

“Whether it’s at work or at home, the people who have my best interest at heart voice their concerns and their critiques, and I work on them.

“Besides that, I just do the best I can to not worry about people who get upset because they don’t like something that I wear or say.”

For her, the decision to wear a hijab on TV empowered her.

“It empowers me,” Tagouri said. “It helps me do what I want to do.”

“Me wearing a scarf on my head won’t make me report a story any differently,” she said.