DEARBORN — On Wednesday, Jan. 23, 1985, 29 years ago, The Arab American News published its first issue. The lead story was an editorial outlining the goals and principles of the publication. 

“This newspaper is dedicated to this guiding purpose: communicating to and unifying all Arabs in North America,” read the paper’s first editorial. “We want to serve as a central clearing house for all the information relevant to all of you, and a distribution center for all opinions felt by all of you.”

The first issue of The Arab American News, titled Sada Alwatan.

The newspaper was then called Sada Alwatan, Arabic for echo of the homeland, which remains the name of the Arabic section of the paper today. 

The newspaper’s circulation today is 35,000, but only 10,000 copies were printed of the first issue.

The Arab American News had been established in September of 1984 but did not produce a printed issue until January of the following year.

The launch of the paper was covered by local media, including the major Detroit dailies and local TV stations.

“It was a powerful feeling watching the paper roll off the press,” said publisher Osama Siblani, who was inducted to the Michigan State University Journalism Hall of Fame last year. “It was a historic day for the paper and the Arab American community.”

After more than 29 years of telling Arab Americans’ stories, the Newseum in partnership with The Smithsonian Institute, will feature the paper in an exhibit on the origins and influence of the ethnic media in the United States.