Al-Sahafa

Infobox Newspaper
name = Al-Sahafa Newspaper


caption = Front page of "Al-Sahafa"
type = Monthly newspaper
format = Broadsheet
foundation = 2000
owners = Fatina Salaheddine
circulation = 150,000 Monthly (Ohio)clr15,000 Montly (Nationally & Internationally)
headquarters = Al-Sahafa Newspaper Officeclr11535 Lorain Avenue / Suite # 1clrCleveland, Ohio 44111-5457clrUSA
editor = Fatina Salaheddine
ISSN =
website = [http://www.al-sahafa.us/ www.Al-Sahafa.us]

[http://www.al-sahafa.us Al-Sahafa] is Ohio's only state-wide Arab-American newspaper and operates with the goal of unraveling the misconceptions around Arabs and dispelling prejudice. [ [http://al-sahafa.us/MakingNews-WomenInBusinessMagazineJulyAug2006.htm Women in Business (M.E. Magazine) - July/August 2006] ] Its purpose of "exposing issues that are seldom, if ever, discussed on American network and cable outlets" makes it the first paper in Ohio to portray issues of interest to Arab Americans.Sun Newspaper - Young publisher lures Arab readers - May 2005 [http://al-sahafa.us/MakingNews-SunNewspaperMay2005.htm print] [http://www.sunnews.com/news/2005/part1/0526/MSALAH.htm web] ] Written in a neutral tone, it strives to avoid taking political sides and instead focuses on providing context for Arab politics as well as cultural tradition.

Al-Sahafa's most recent articles are available online at their website and detailed in a List of Al-Sahafa Issues.

History & Ownership

Fatina Salaheddine, an American of Lebanese decent, is the owner and publisher of Ohio’s monthly Al-Sahafa Newspaper.

Coincidentally, the launch of Al-Sahafa was in the summer before September 11th 2001 arrived – bringing the Arabs, the Middle East, the religion of Islam and Arab Americans to the forefront and controversy of the news and media. Through the Al-Sahafa publication, she was determined to initiate and open dialogue to help bridge the gap of tolerance and acceptance each month, by providing news – with the “Arab” viewpoint. Reminding readers, that “there is always the other side to every story told”. [ [http://al-sahafa.us/MakingNews-ClevelandPDMosaic01202004.htm Cleveland Plain Dealer (Mosaic Section) - January 20, 2004] ]

Al-Sahafa is a tabloid size newspaper. It is published the first Tuesday of every month, and is also available online. In addition to editing, Fatina Salaheddine is the founder and CEO of the Al-Sahafa Newspaper. The Al-Sahafa Newspaper is Ohio’s only monthly Middle Eastern Newspaper. Al-Sahafa (which means the Media or the Reporter in Arabic) is the first of its kind, providing readers with a scope of Arab-American Events, News, Culture Highlights, Featured Editorials, and an Arab perspective on Politics. Published in the English language, Al-Sahafa contains a broad range of topics, (something for everyone to enjoy), and proudly reaches a large audience of international readers throughout the state of Ohio, the nation, and internationally through my travels as a speaker in conferences abroad.

In the beginning, Al-Sahafa’s target audience was Arab Americans, but September 11th brought the curiosity of all communities that wanted to know more about Arabs and the Middle East. And so, each month Al-Sahafa has found increasing interest from the many Italian, Greek, Spanish, Russian, Eastern European, African American, and Asian communities that are e-mailing their comments and questions, as well as subscribing. Al-Sahafa is an informative, useful, and very entertaining publication, whose sole purpose is to represent the great Middle Eastern Civilization and its cultured people, in the United States of America, and internationally.

Al-Sahafa (which means the Media or the Reporter in Arabic) provides readers with a scope of Arab-American Events, News, Culture Highlights, Featured Editorials, and an Arab perspective on Politics. Published in the English language, Al-Sahafa contains a broad range of topics.

There is no doubt, that the media plays a huge role in image and perception. And depending upon the type of media outlet- the underlying message can undoubtedly give and eventually reinforce a negative perception about Arabs, Muslims and the Middle East to a vast audience. Through the Al-Sahafa publication, Fatina is determined to initiate and open dialogue to help bridge the gap of tolerance and acceptance each month, by providing news – with the “Arab” viewpoint. Reminding readers, that “there is always the other side to every story told”. [ [http://al-sahafa.us/MakingNews-FairlawnMagazineAugust2004.htm Fairlawn Magazine - Faces of Fairlawn - August 2004] ]

Since Al-Sahafa’s inception, the publication has grown to a statewide distribution. And with a growing number of influential readers, (both print and online readers), my future plan is to turn Al-Sahafa Newspaper into America’s leading and most trusted Arab American publication. It is interesting to note; that people of all religions (including non-Muslims), are finding Al-Sahafa a great resource and tool to pass along to persons who have the wrong idea and negative stereotype about Arabs and the Middle East). [ [http://al-sahafa.us/MakingNews-NorthernOhioLiveMagMarch2005.htm Northern Ohio Live Magazine - March 2005] ]

Each month 150,000 copies of the Al-Sahafa Newspaper are strategically placed all over the state of Ohio in downtown City Hall and Government Buildings, Grade Schools, High Schools, well-known Colleges, Libraries, News Stations, Hospitals, Law Firms, Bakeries, Hotels, Airports, Restaurants, and Coffee Shops. Not forgetting to mention - that we have worked hard on achieving a large Subscription base of close to 15,000 that are mailed outside the state of Ohio each month as well - to all Embassies, many politically important locations in our nation's capital in Washington D.C., to nationally recognized Colleges, Arab American Organizations and Companies doing business with the Middle East. [http://al-sahafa.us/MakingNews-ClevelandJewishNews.htm Cleveland Jewish News - February 21, 2003] ]

Al-Sahafa is an English only publication. Americans in general, really need to work on overcoming their “Arab phobia” and “everything Islamic” negativity, that came with the September 11th attacks in 2001. The main goal with the Al-Sahafa Newspaper is to reach mainstream America with the “Arab viewpoints” and information containing nothing but positive reinforcements of the rich culture, heritage and vast history of the great land and peoples of Arabia. [ [http://www.al-sahafa.us/MediaKitPage2.htm Al-Sahafa Media Kit] ]

Community Involvement

Community involvement is an important part of Al-Sahafa's mission. This involvement provided the inspiration to create the paper and continues to provide inspiration for articles.

Al-Sahafa currently partners with a number of universities including Ohio's Case Western Reserve University to connect college students to the Arab community and provide them with an opportunity to work for in a newspaper. Additionally, they work with WVIZ/PBS and WCPN/NPR to support their fundraising efforts. Fatina is a member of the Friendship Caravan Advisory Board [ [http://www.friendshipcaravan.org/AdvisoryBoard.htm Friendship Caravan - Advisory Board] ] as well as a number of Arab-American social groups including: Sharq Magazine - Empowerment is the Dream - July/August 2006 [http://al-sahafa.us/MakingNews-SharqMagazineJulyAug2006Issue.htm print] [http://sharq.sites.subhub.com/articles/20070212_3 web] ]

* Arab-American Community Center for Economic and Social Services
* Arab Americans of Central Ohio
* The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
* The Cleveland American Middle East Organization
* The Lebanese-American Chamber of Commerce
* The Lebanese-Syrian Junior Women's League.

Recognition

Since Al-Sahafa's coverage of the 2004 presidential election, it has been made the only Ohio correspondent for [http://english.aljazeera.net/English Al Jazeera] . Additionally, Al-Sahafa has received praise from a number of sources including Dirva, Ohio's Lithuanian Newspaper [ [http://al-sahafa.us/MakingNews-DirvaLithuanianNewspaperArticle.htm Dirva - Ohio's Lithuanian Newspaper - November 2003] ] , Le Figaro, a French Newspaper [ [http://al-sahafa.us/MakingNews-LeFigaroFrenchNewspaper103104.htm Le Figaro (French Newspaper) - October 31, 2004] ] , Forbes Middle Eastern Magazine [ [http://al-sahafa.us/MakingNews-ForbesMiddleEastMagazine042006.htm Forbes Middle East Magazine - April 2006] ] and the Italian Newspaper La Stampa [ [http://al-sahafa.us/MakingNews-LaStampaItalianNewspaperOctober6-2004.htm La Stampa (Italian Newspaper) - October 6, 2004] ] . Fatina was also recognized by the Women's Community Foundation as an extraordinary woman of Cleveland in 2004. [ [http://al-sahafa.us/MakingNews-WomensCommunityFoundation.htm Women's Community Foundation 2004 Premier Calendar] ]

Criticism and Controversy

Though the paper's initial goals were to focus on people, not politics, the recent world turmoil has caused the paper to address the War in Iraq and the Palestinian-Israeli crisis. Their March 2003 article "Why is Bush so eager to go to war?" sparked substantial controversy in the Ohio community. Many residents wrote in criticizing the paper for questioning Bush's reasoning for war. The paper defended its actions, arguing that free speech is the cornerstone of America's democracy. [http://al-sahafa.us/MakingNews-CrainsClevelandBusiness.htm Crain's Cleveland Business Magazine - August 18-24, 2003] ] Their further coverage of the Iraq War continued to spark controversy and was accused of portraying a liberal bias.

The paper's goal is to not be politically focused and not present "radical viewpoints". The paper's mission statement is printed on the third page of every issue and reads "This publication DOES NOT & WILL NOT TOLERATE any form of Religious Contempt or Discrimination of country of origin in the Middle East. We are all God's children." Nevertheless, the editorial page has been accused of containing radical viewpoints and, although no violence is called for, there are often pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli comments found within its pages. Even still, the paper does make clear that the opinions on the editorial page do not reflect those of the paper. [http://al-sahafa.us/MakingNews-ClevelandJewishNews.htm Cleveland Jewish News - February 21, 2003] ]

After the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February 14th 2005 and the Cedar Revolution which followed, Fatina challenged the Lebanese to end the infighting and unite around a democratic Lebanon. She also challenged the Lebanese President and accused him of failing to take action to address the grievous wrongs done in the earlier assassinations. [ [http://www.anmag.org/issues/12/04/120408.php "ANMag - An Open Letter From One Lebanese To Another"] ]

The advice column, Cuz'n Kadin, (Kadin means "old soul") provides an outlet for confused Arab youth trying to cope with the conflicting American and Middle Eastern values. The column often stretches Arab cultural boundaries, but would still be considered conservative by some Americans. It offers advice for dealing with culture clash and is often criticized by older Arab-Americans as being too liberal. [ [http://al-sahafa.us/MakingNews-PlainDealerArticleFatinaSalaheddine092107.htm Cleveland Plain Dealer (Metro Section) - September 21, 2007] ]

References