On September 7, 1984, 34 years ago, The Arab American News was established with a mission to tell Arab Americans’ and the Arab world’s untold stories, but as it progressed and immersed in the field of  journalism, it developed into something much more than that. In the last three decades The Arab American News has become a place to go for journalists, media professionals and average Americans seeking knowledge and wanting to learn about important issues that they’d been denied access to elsewhere.

Our mission has been and will continue to be to tell Arab American stories that are not told or have been ignored in the mainstream media and to be the Arab American voice at a time when hatred and racism are on the rise and trying to silence it.

We have published stories that went national, stood firm for civil rights, freedom and democracy and battled hate with truth, strength and integrity.

Our stories have won many prestigious national and local awards and we have been entered into the Journalism Hall of Fame.

We have written our stories with pride and professionalism, even though we sometimes were subjected to waves of backlash from our own for merely reporting the “faults” in our community or tackling taboos and controversial stories, including the opioid epidemic, substance abuse, domestic violence, frauds, crime and suicide, but we never wavered.

The Arab American News building in Dearborn, Michigan

As we continue standing on guard and telling your stories, we renew our commitment to the community, the readers and the profession

While we confront these issues head-on, we assure our readers and the entire community that we have no agenda against specific individuals or groups. However, our duty and responsibility is to bravely and bluntly address these crises in a professional manner, even if they hurt sometimes, because ignoring them is not an option. On the other hand, fixing them can enhance our success stories and move our community forward. It’s our responsibility to search for the truth to the best of our abilities, report it and let people make their own decisions.

Since its inception, The Arab American News has encouraged Arab Americans to get involved in public life, engage politicians, vote and run for public offices. The recent number of Arab Americans running for office across the country and mainly in Michigan this election season is a testimony to our hard work and relentless efforts on behalf of the community and its institutions. The Arab American News is proud to have lead the way in this endeavor. We are also proud of the successes that have been achieved on the local, state and federal level and look forward to building on them in the future.

Our editorials, feature stories and news articles are all separate entities in our paper that only highlight our profession as journalists— giving us the freedom to voice our opinions and allow others to voice theirs. We simply stand up for the rights of the community, tell your stories and report the news.

On our 34th anniversary, we would like to express our appreciation to everyone who continues to stand by us.

First and foremost, we thank our readers, who have allowed us to prosper for the last 34 years. We also thank our advertisers, who have given us the financial backing to remain editorially independent and allowed us to continue publishing at this very difficult time for print media.

Finally, we appreciate our current and former staff, as well as contributors whose dedication to the profession have only steered The Arab American News to utmost success.

As we continue standing on guard and telling your stories, we renew our commitment to the community, the readers and the profession.

Again, we thank you for your continuous support and encouragement.

The best is yet to come.