BELMONT, Mass. — The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) will host a panel discussion entitled “The Armenian-American Press in Perspective: Its Purposes, Challenges, and Future Prospects,” on Thursday, February 13, at 7:30 p.m., in Batmasian Hall on the third floor of the new NAASR Vartan Gregorian Building.
This program is presented by the NAASR/Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Lecture Series on Contemporary Armenian Issues and is co-sponsored by the AGBU Young Professionals of Boston, the Tekeyan Cultural Association and the AYF Greater Boston “Nejdeh” Chapter. It is free and open to the public. A reception will take place after the program in the Shahinian Solarium.
Early Armenian immigrants created institutions in their new hometowns in America — among them churches, clubs, and political organizations which became focal points of Armenian-American life. Serving no less an important role were the newspapers they established which became a vital forum for the exchange of ideas, news from the old country, world events, community politics, and much more.
The Armenian-American press has endured and evolved over the past 125 years and more, reflecting and shaping the community it serves. Today, as all print media struggle for their existence, Armenian-American outlets face the same challenges as well as others unique to their market.
NAASR Board Member Stepan Piligian will serve as the moderator for the evening, which will touch on such questions as: What role does the Armenian-American press serve today? Whom does it serve? What does its future look like?
The panel will consist of Leeza Arakelian (Assistant Editor, Armenian Weekly), Alin K. Gregorian (Editor, Armenian Mirror-Spectator), and Stephen Kurkjian (Pulitzer Prize winner, Boston Globe, and NAASR Board Member).
