Lebanon’s Aztag Armenian Daily: Navigating The Political and Economic Challenges of War
Vahe Sarukhanyan
Hetq
Lebanon’s Aztag newspaper is one of the few Armenian-language print dailies still published in the Middle East.
Published in Bourj Hammoud, a once majority Armenian-populated town on the outskirts of Beirut, since 1927, Aztag became the official newspaper of the ARF Central Committee of Lebanon in 1965. (Aztag, roughly translated, means “impulse/impetus/stimulus”).
Shahan Kandaharian, Aztag’s editor-
In addition to Aztag in Lebanon, others have become three-day or weekly newspapers. Ararad, the official newspaper of the Social-Democratic Hunchak Party published since 1937, is now published three days a week. Zartonk, the official newspaper of the Ramgavar Liberal Party, (published since 1937), has been transformed from a daily to a weekly.
The daily newspaper Ayk was published in Lebanon from 1953-1975. The Gandzasar weekly, the official newspaper of the Berio (Aleppo) Diocese of the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia, continues to be published in Aleppo. The Cairo-based Housaper, the official newspaper of the ARF in Egypt, is now only published online. There are still Armenian print newspapers in Istanbul (the dailies Jamanak and Marmara) and the Agos weekly. The Alik daily is published in Tehran.
Kandaharian tells Hetq that prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Aztag had ten pages, dropping to four due to the economic difficulties created by the pandemic, as well as restrictions on the editorial staff’s mobility. After the pandemic, due to Lebanon’s economic crisis, political uncertainty, and security issues, the paper increased to eight pages. Published six days a week, Aztagstaffers also work on Sundays to prepare Monday’s edition.
Kandaharian says that Aztag’s main problems are the ongoing economic crisis and the uncertain political situation in Lebanon. Another challenge is the lack of qualified journalists with an excellent command of Western Armenian.
To solve the personnel problem, five years ago Aztag launched a training program for budding journalists. Fifteen young future journalists attend the eight-month courses taught by Aztag employees. Non-Aztag specialists have also been invited to teach. The trainees also prepare the pages of the ARF Student Union and Youth Union that appear in Aztag and work at Vana Tsayn(Voice of Van) radio station that operates in the same building as Aztag. (The radio station also belongs to the ARF).
Engaging young people in the newspaper also aims to make it more accessible to young consumers, since in Lebanon, as in Armenia, print newspapers are mostly read by the middle-aged and elderly.
“Our special policy is to involve young people, to create youth pages, sometimes columns. Every month, young people prepare the pages of the ARF Student Union and Youth Union in our newspaper,” says Kandaharian, noting that the content prepared by young people helps to promote Aztag in their demographic segment.
Aztag has a staff of twenty-four. This number was previously larger because the newspaper had been printed in-house. The paper later decided to outsource the printing, as it was more profitable. Kandaharian says many Lebanese Arabic-language newspapers have closed, continuing to operate only on-line.
Kandaharian says that there is a crisis in the print media not only in Armenia and Lebanon, but also throughout the world.
“But we have decided to continue the print version, especially since most of the newspaper’s readers can’t compare to the readers of the website. This allows Aztag to be a newspaper not only for Lebanese Armenians, but also for the entire diaspora,” says Kandaharian. He adds that the number of Aztag on-line readers in Armenia has increased sharply given that many Syrian and Lebanese Armenians moved to Armenia following recent regional political upheavals. Kandaharian points out that Aztag is also read by government agencies in Armenia.
Aztag’s print version once reached neighboring Syria, but after the civil war in the country, ties were severed and Syrian-Armenians now read Aztag online. The print daily is sold throughout Lebanon, and it has few subscribers in Istanbul.
“The print press is fading, thinning out, but the impression that it has no reach is wrong since it is the content of the print press that goes to the electronic platform and is distributed,” says Kandaharian. “In other words, the circulation is decreasing, but the reach is increasing.”Aztag’s entire archive was digitized in two years. The paper then assumed the work of digitizing the archives of other samplings of the Armenian press.
“That’s how we saved the Iraqi newspaper Koyamart. We brought it here during the war and digitized it. There are many such samples. We donated the entire digitized version to various Armenian research centers and to the National Library of Armenia with whom we signed a memorandum of cooperation. Now, the bibliography of Aztag’s entire archive is being prepared there. I think it’s especially important work. This is an irreplaceable source, a huge amount of material for anyone studying the history of the diaspora,” Kandaharian tells Hetq.
Political content and coverage is now the focus of Aztag.
“This is related to both the intensification of events in Armenia and the crises here. I wouldn’t say that this was planned, but political topics have come to the fore naturally. We are now trying to reflect the life of the Lebanese-Armenian community in the newspaper, but Lebanon has gone through different political stages, and all that needs to be covered through a political lens,” Kandaharian says.
The Aztag editor says the paper conducted a survey to ascertain what the community wanted it to cover, revealing the need for more political content.
Kandaharian says that even if Aztag can overcome the lack of qualified Western Armenian language reporters, the paper still faces the challenge, like other print newspapers in the diaspora, of ensuring a stable readership base.
“We must have a society, as a collective, that realizes the mission of the press. It is important to perceive the mission of the press correctly and simply encourage it by reading and becoming subscribers,” Kandaharian stresses.
Aztag’s main readers are its subscribers who get their paper delivered by motorcycle messengers who start their routes early every morning. The newspaper is also sold in bookstores.
Aztag’s main financial backer is the ARF, but the paper also relies on advertising revenue, retail sales/subscriptions, and donations.
Kandaharian confesses that social networks have negatively impacted the newspaper’s circulation, which is a global phenomenon. He points to a “tradition of donations” that plays a key role in supporting a variety of organizations in the diaspora.
“We announce every donation. If we publish a supplement, an exclusive issue, we find a sponsor, we name our editorial offices and meeting rooms in honor of the donors,” says Kandaharian.
He adds that Aztag also organizes book launches, which contributes to the preservation and development of Western Armenian.
Kandaharian confirms that the Armenian community in Lebanon has shrunk and that an overall atmosphere of hopelessness looms large. The fall-out impacts the Lebanese Armenian community and the entire Lebanese society.
“If the situation stabilizes and peace is established in the Middle East, I think the Armenian community will at least begin to move on to its development phase,” Kandaharian says.
