Arab American News Editor Discusses His Plight

June 24, 2009

Osama Siblani arrived in America with $185 in 1976 from Lebanon to escape political turmoil. He attended school and did odd jobs until he graduated in 1979 with a degree in chemical engineering. When he returned to Lenanon in 1982 to visit his mother, war broke out so he fled, ending up in France, where he had trouble getting news about the war. It was this experience which spawned his interest in journalism.

Siblani's newspaper, the Arab American News, turns 25 this year. AAJA's Frank Witsil (pictured) interviewed Siblani in Dearborn, Michigan, in a region which has a sizeable Arab American population. The story was published on PoynterOnline, and details Siblani's travails and the success of his newspaper. AAJA will hold its annual convention in Detroit, Michigan in 2011.