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=> West Bloomfield Eccentric 3/14/04

West Bloomfield Eccentric 3/14/04
Posted by Jeff (Guest) jeff@attoz.com - Wednesday, March 17 2004, 23:54:07 (EST)
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West Bloomfield Eccentric 3/14/04
Jadan's TV Orient keeps viewers tuned in: Middle East news channel has grown volumes since war began

Wally Jadan, of West Bloomfield, has mixed feelings about the war in Iraq, which is closing in on its one-year anniversary.

On one hand, he is troubled by the chaos that has erupted in his ancestral homeland, as it attempts to move from the rule of a ruthless dictator to becoming a democracy.

But, since the bombs began falling on Iraq a year ago, Jadan's Southfield-based media company, TV Orient, has blossomed into one of the main news voices for the area's Middle Eastern community.

When the war began, TV Orient was airing programs about three hours a day in about 40 communities throughout metro Detroit. Today, TV Orient airs 24 hours a day on Comcast Digital's Channel 667, and reaches more than 250 cities in Michigan and across the nation, and also can be seen in Canada and Mexico via satellite.

In that same period, TV Orient's number of employees has jumped from 12 to 30, and could be as many as 60 by the end of the year. Jadan had to construct a second studio to keep up with the demands of all-day programming. TV Orient is even starting to attract significant advertisers, including DTE Energy, Pepsi and Western Union.

TV Orient has made its mark by providing news and perspectives about the Iraqi conflict not found on most American news outlets. The station pipes in satellite feeds from about 30 countries around the globe, especially the Middle East. Jadan and his staff digest all that news on a daily basis, condense it and present it to viewers during national and international news segments each day.

"There are so many satellite stations coming out of the Middle East. They have such a negative view of America, especially in Iraq. There is never anything positive about America. We bring in the positive aspects of what America is doing, but also report what is really going on over there," said Jadan.

Jadan, 50, who emigrated to the United States 30 years ago, bought TV Orient in 1996. In addition to the national and international news, TV Orient also airs local news pertinent to the area's Arab-American population, which is about 550,000. It also provides an array of programming, mostly in the Arabic language. In fact, about 80 percent of the programming is in Arabic, with some limited English segments.

Saad Marouf, former chairman of the Southfield-based American Chaldean Federation, said the main reason TV Orient has been successful in attracting local Arab and Chaldean viewers is its Arabic language programming. He said more than half of the Chaldeans that emigrated from Iraq, especially those older than 30, aren't proficient in English.

"Many of our people are still very much attached to Iraq. For them to find news in their own language is a source of comfort. TV Orient is a link for us. I think it is very good what TV Orient is doing," Marouf said.

TV Orient's recent growth is surpassed only by Jadan's ambitions. In September, he plans to begin sending, via satellite, TV Orient's programming to the Middle East, especially to Iraq and the Persian Gulf region.

TV Orient international news anchor Natiq Elia, who was a broadcast journalist in Iraq during the initial years of Saddam Hussein's regime, believes TV Orient will make a positive impact on Iraqi-American relations when it begins airing in the Middle East. He thinks TV Orient will help tear down some of the misconceptions about America that flourish in the region.

"The main issue is for TV Orient to build bridges between America and the Middle East. I think it's something we can do," Elia said.

Jadan says the local Middle Eastern community, especially those with ties to Iraq, has high hopes for the future of the country. Expatriates celebrated when American soldiers captured Hussein, but have watched with apprehension as radicals and terrorists have used bombs and sneak attacks to disrupt Iraq's transition to democracy.

"They all hope liberation and freedom take hold in Iraq. They would like to see a more stable Middle East. We are sick and tired of the radicals trying to derail the peace process. Especially after Sept. 11, the attitude of the community changed a lot," said Jadan, who believes democracy will eventually take hold in Iraq.

"We're looking for the Middle East to change. We love our life here, and we want to export it. That's the best thing we can do for the people living in Iraq."



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