PR RELEASE -- AAMS News Wire launches free wire service 7-30-04

Arab American Media Service launches News Wire
July 30, 2004
 
Chicago -- Arab American Media Services, a coalition of Arab and Muslim journalists based in the United States and the Middle East, has launched a "News Wire" service to make news and feature articles and press releases on Arab and Muslim topics available to the mainstream American news media.

The service is free and Internet-based at http://AAMS.blogspot.com.

Journalists from the Middle East and in the United States will post original news and feature articles that are either originally written in Arabic and that have not been published in major news media. Organizations in the United States and the Middle East are encouraged to post their press releases that address Arab and or Muslim related issues or events. Postings will be identified as "News," "Feature" or "Press Releases."

"There is a lot of talent in the Middle East but most of the work is produced in Arabic and accessible to the American media," said Ray Hanania, coordinator and founder of the National Arab American Journalist Association, one of the sponsoring organizations.

"We are working with a team of Palestinian journalists who work for major newspapers in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, and also with Arab and Muslim American journalists who work in the United States. We want to take this huge untapped talent and make it available to the mainstream American media and to the American public."

Hanania said the idea was developed during a live video conference call he organized through the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem May 25, 2004 with 18 Palestinian journalists and editors. They expressed interest in having their work made available to the American media.

"We found that the Palestinian journalists, for example, we breaking news stories and writing compelling feature stories in Arabic that were rarely being reprinted in English or in the Western media," Hanania said.

Hanania said AAMS-News Wire is including news releases to also help broaden mainstream American media contacts in the Arab and Muslim community here and abroad.

Two prominent Middle East journalists have joined the effort. They include Mohamed Najib, who writes news and features for Janes, the Jerusalem Post and Op-Eds for publications in the U.S. including the Chicago Tribune, and Daoud Kuttab, an Op-Ed writer who is also the director of the Institute of Modern Media in Jerusalem.

"We are looking for original news and feature stories that are written in Arabic that the writers will translate into English," Hanania said.

"Currently, we are only focused on News, features and press releases and not on commentaries or Op-Eds by Arabs and Muslims which are easily attained and abundant but still under utilized by American newspapers."

The service is free. News and features posted on the web can be reprinted or broadcast, etc., with full attribution to the writers. Press releases can serve as a resource for follow-up contact and should be under 500 words.

CONTACT INFO:
Ray Hanania
312-933-9855
rayhanania@aol.com
 
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