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Meet the Weekly’s New Editorial Line-Up
WATERTOWN, Mass.—The Armenian Weekly is pleased to announce the newest addition to its staff. Leeza Arakelian is a seasoned journalist, who has written and produced for local and network television news including Boston 25 and Al Jazeera America in Washington, D.C. A Los Angeles native and a graduate of UCLA, Arakelian moved to New England in 2010 to
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Welcome and thank you for joining the Weekly…just added you to people I follow on Twitter!!!
Sincere congrats to Karine and Leeza.
Wish them success.
Vart Adjemian
Working at the Hairenik is one of the most rewarding and worthwhile experiences one can ever live; it is also one of the most humbling, when you begin to read about the giants that were at the helm of our historic publications. Names such as Vratsian, Siamanto, and Darbinian were confined to my Armenian history books before I began my tenure at the Hairenik. And though I never had the time to reflect and think about the significance of “bearing their torch,” I now realize the significance of carrying on the legacy of the now more than century-old publication.
Growing up, I don’t remember learning about many women in my Armenian history classes. Unfortunately, they were largely ignored and overlooked—marginalized even—in our history books (which detailed the lives of Vratsian, Siamanto, etc.), leaving us with a national narrative that was dominated by males. It was only after I started working at the Weekly that I realized that women have always been instrumental in the Hairenik publications, and in turn, an essential part of the history of Armenian journalism.
In fact, the Hairenik never shied away from employing women in leadership positions. Even in its earliest days, the Hairenik went against the grain and defied the gender norms of the day. Without the selfless and committed work of staff members and editors such as Queenie Pamboukian, Laura Tosoonian, Mimi Parseghian, Georgi-Ann Bargamian, Nora Mouradian, Grace Kehetian, Arsineh Valladian, Jenny Yettem, Nayiri Arzoumanian, Sossi Essajanian, Anny Deese, and Nanore Barsoumian (I’m sure I’m forgetting some), the Hairenik and the Armenian Weekly would not exist—plain and simple.
Now, nearly 120 years after the Hairenik was founded, how fitting that the Weekly’s “torch” is being carried by two strong, dedicated, intelligent, and talented Armenian women.
Karine and Leeza,
You two are the latest pieces of this great legacy.
I am so honored and grateful that you have succeeded me and am certain that you will take the newspaper to new heights and (in the words of M. Varadian) “make it better than it was.”
– Rupen J.