December 12-2007

I recently engaged the chief editorial board and chief editor of a leading New Jersey paper. The topic was part of our continuing efforts to mainstream the main issues of our community. Chief among these concerns was the paper’s involvement, position, and response to a vicious and smear-laden campaign by a State Senator against Arab Americans and their organizations. After two hours of ’frank and constructive talks’, we agreed on certain tasks to be worked on. Within a few days, the paper came out with a major column, a leading editorial, and a letter from us on the subject of fear-mongering and the abuse of the terror card to win votes.  It is a small success story that needs to be emulated nationwide.

Among the minor issues I raised was to gauge the relevance of the Arabic ethnic media in mainstream media’s news and story gathering. I wanted to know the extent to which our Arabic-owned papers impact news and opinions about our community. To my astonishment, one editor stated that for a large newspaper, it rarely relies on or seeks out ethnic media outlets. Pressing the editor to further explain his rather startling assessment, he believed that most ethnic media is biased because it is generally speaking to an audience that through subscriptions or advertising controls the editorial content.

Is this mistrust of ethic media so endemic that we must altogether dismiss its relevance.? Amidst sweeping changes in America's media landscape, ethnic media are emerging as the giant hidden in plain sight. The first-ever comprehensive survey of ethnic American adults on their media usage reveals that ethnic media reach 51 million ethnic Americans -- almost a quarter of all American adults. Of these media consumers, 29 million ethnic American adults, or 13 percent of all adult Americans, not only use ethnic media regularly but prefer ethnic media to their mainstream media counterparts.

The 2005 study was commissioned by New California Media (NCM) in partnership with the Center for American Progress and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund (LCCREF), and administered by Bendixen & Associates. The poll surveyed 1,850 Hispanic, African American, Asian American, Arab American and Native American adults, representing 64 million ethnic and racial minorities overall. The interviews were conducted in 10 languages.

I shared my thoughts with an associate and he similarly argued that, with few expectations, Arab-owned media ‘is not worth the paper it is printed on.” He further stated that if it was not for the fact that these papers are distributed for free, he would never bother to read let alone pay money to read them.”  This may be a harsh judgment. Unequivocally, Arabic newspapers in the US serve an important role for many new comers who are not well versed in the English language or yearn to read in Arabic or wishes to stay connected to news from the homeland. The success of Arabic media is to be measured by the endless flow of ethnically targeted advertising campaign from small shops to ads by large corporations or even governmental agencies such as the FBI and the U.S. Army. The question that we will explore in future commentary is whether Arabic media is a trustworthy source of news for the community?

A  study by Arab American journalist, Ray Hanania, "completed recently for the National Arab American Journalists Association (www.NAAJA-US.com) shows that the 79 publications have a solid base in 22 of the nation’s 48 continental states. Yet, these 22 states only account for about half of all the Arabs living in America. What do the people of the other 28 states do? Many of the regional newspaper distribute some papers by subscription or bundles to some spots in other states. But there are 28 states that have absolutely no access to newspapers."

I too have my own misgivings about Arab-owned media in this country. Generally speaking, of the seven weeklies that are distributed in the NJ/NY area, and except for one notable exception, all I see in these papers are ads and more ads. You rarely see original articles and feature stories. Most content is ‘borrowed ‘from other sources. And when English is used, it is often butchered to an extreme.

The only shining star in the Arabic owned media is by far the Brooklyn, NY based Aramica. For the last six years, I have followed its phenomenal growth, unmatched coverage of our community, and consistent editorial maturity. Aramica stands alone in breaking many taboos about what can and should be said about our people and their issues. It is not afraid to ruffle feathers or just as willingly to bestow accolades. 

Back to my original quest: Are Arab-owned papers and Arab American journalists' main objective to ”embellish” and promote the Arab American community? To what extent are they to a mirror reflecting our proud heritage, culture and aspiration or a microscope , a surgeon's knife, looking to expose the ugly and undesired aspects of our community without necessarily providing practical solutions? Are they to never criticize failures and missteps by our leaders? Is the role of ethnic media to be a PR machine, questioning everybody else’s motives and remaining silent about our own shortfalls and omissions? I recently spoke to an owner and editor of an NJ-based Arabic weekly and he offered the following justification: “We should not criticize our people or their organizations because the rest of the media is doing a good job at that.”

If this is how we perceive the role of our media, then is it a shock that mainstream media pays no respect to the integrity of our news or the justice of our causes? What do you think?

Related: Aramica Sildes

Related: Click here for a study report