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Linking with ink: Hairenik celebrates 70 years of news from Diaspora

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  • Linking with ink: Hairenik celebrates 70 years of news from Diaspora

    Linking with ink: Armenian paper celebrates 70 years of news from the
    Diaspora
    By Monica Deady

    Watertown Tab
    Friday, July 9, 2004

    To exist for 70 years in a world full of shifting, recycling and revamping
    is not a small feat. The Armenian Weekly, a weekly ethnic newspaper written
    and published in Watertown, has reached the regal age of 70, with plans to
    continue on with its task of sharing news of Armenians worldwide.

    The Armenian Weekly, published in English, was first published in Boston in
    1934 as a means for the Armenian community to learn about what was affecting
    the Armenian people throughout the United States and the world. What began
    with four pages a week has increased to 20, with a circulation of about
    1,700 and a readership of more than 7,000.

    The paper moved to the Watertown office in 1985 to be closer to where the
    population is centered. According to editor Jason Sohigian, who has been
    editor since 1999, Watertown has the largest concentration of Armenians
    outside of Los Angeles. It is published by the Hairenik Association of
    Watertown.

    "Our primary focus is the Armenian view," Sohigian said, sitting in the
    small newspaper office on the first floor of 80 Bigelow Ave. "I think the
    Armenian interest or Armenian point of view is not really represented in the
    other media. I think it's a good chance for Armenians to discuss the issues
    that affect the community."

    For example, Sohigian said the paper may cover topics like United States aid
    to Armenia or dual citizenship.

    "For us, I think the way we present things and the topics we choose to
    present ... it gives people something to think about," said assistant editor
    Sossi Essajanian, who said her family has always received the paper. "We
    want not just a newspaper, but a collection of news and analysis."

    The paper, which is what Sohigian called "an organ" of the Armenian
    Revolution Federation, an Armenian political party, tries to represent the
    points of view of that party in Armenia, and publishes editorials, political
    analyses, columns, short stories and poems.

    Several newspapers are published as arms of the ARF party in many areas of
    the world, Sohigian said, and the Armenian Weekly published in Watertown
    focuses on the East Coast of the United States.

    Most of the paper's subscribers are in major cities, where Sohigian said the
    Armenian population is concentrated, including Detroit, Chicago, New York
    City, Providence, R.I., Boston and Worcester. He said they also have
    subscribers from New Jersey, Florida and other parts of the world.

    Members of the Armenian Caucus in Congress receive the paper as well,
    Sohigian said.

    Although the paper does not have any writers on staff, they have
    contributors worldwide and longtime columnists, poets and volunteers who
    help them with everything from art to translation to copy.

    Sohigian said they accept press releases and often work them into stories
    and will report on Armenian issues that are concerns to other regions of the
    United States and the political activity in Washington, D.C.

    "It's kind of like a community service," Sohigian said.

    Throughout its publication, the paper has focused on youth writing through
    the Armenian Youth Federation. Students are encouraged to submit writing,
    and it is often one of the first places they are published.

    One journalist, Mitch Kehetian, who says he saw his first byline in the
    Armenian Weekly, has been a journalist for more than 50 years. He is
    currently the editorial page editor at the Macomb Daily, a paper that covers
    the northern suburbs of Detroit.

    "I always read the local paper because it gives me a feel for the
    community," he said, and said the Armenian Weekly does the same thing.

    Tom Vartabedian, a 37-year veteran reporter and photographer at the
    Haverhill Gazette, has also been a correspondent for the Armenian Weekly for
    34 years. When he was about 20 years old, he volunteered to be the Boston
    chapter scribe for the Youth Federation and said his contributions to the
    paper never stopped. He has been writing a weekly column since 1970.

    "It gives me a chance to exercise my mind and contribute to an ethnic
    newspaper," Vartabedian said. "It's a vehicle that connects one community to
    another. It's also a tool to publicize a community, and it's an organ ...
    it's our voice," he said. "It's a voice for all to be heard."

    "There are a number of things that create a community..." said Hayg Oshagan,
    a member of the editorial board, "but having people spread in a geographic
    space does not create a community. A community becomes a community when they
    have a connection with one another."

    He said the Armenian Weekly is one of those things that can supply the
    connections.

    "A newspaper creates a forum across the whole region," said Oshagan, who
    worked on the paper for a few summers when he was in college and has been on
    the board for about three years. Oshagan said some of the challenges of the
    newspaper are finding stringers to work for them and getting the paper to
    all of the subscribers in a timely manner, which can be delayed.

    Still, he said over the years, he thinks the paper has found a "comfort
    zone" and "a way of working well."

    "It connects [Armenians] with the past, it connects them with the present,
    it connects them with their origins and their identity," said Tatul Sonentz,
    who has been contributing to the paper since the 1950s. "It will survive, I
    believe, as long as there is a community."

    Photo: Assistant editor Sossi Essajanian looks over proofs of The Armenian
    Weekly, which is celebrating 70 years of publication. - STAFF PHOTO
    BY KATE FLOCK

    Monica Deady can be reached at [email protected].

    http://www2.townonline.com/watertown/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=36574
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