by Sarah Le
In early August, Siyamak Khorrami opened the doors of the new Epoch Times office at the Jamboree Center in Irvine, California, paving the way for the newspaper’s continued expansion in Orange County.
The paper plans to start publishing a daily edition in the county in October and is looking for more talented individuals who are passionate about the local community to join the team. Khorrami, the general manager of the Southern California edition of the newspaper, joined the company three years ago.
“We’ve received a lot of positive feedback in the area. A lot of people love the paper,” said Khorrami. “They feel that our content is a good match for the community.”
Founded in the year 2000, The Epoch Times is the fastest-growing independent news media in the country. Subscriptions to the relatively young newspaper have grown significantly in recent months, even during a global pandemic, while the newspaper industry as a whole continues to decline.
The newspaper focuses on the principles of Truth and Tradition, as well as reporting the best of humanity, the valuable lessons of history, and traditions that are beneficial for society. The history and purpose of The Epoch Times also adds a unique international perspective.
CEO John Tang came to the United States from China in 1993 as a young doctoral candidate and was deeply impacted by the freedoms afforded to the American people. In 1999, China began to harshly persecute the spiritual practice Falun Dafa. Tang was saddened to see the media in the United States blindly repeat disinformation about the group from Chinese Communist Party leaders.
“As a Falun Gong practitioner myself, my life had been enhanced by its principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance,” said Tang.
While Tang was able to practice his Falun Gong freely in the United States, he saw many friends and family in China lose their homes, jobs, and even their lives for refusing to give up their Falun Gong.
“I knew that one of the main reasons that this persecution was allowed to go on was because people didn’t have access to the truth,” said Tang.
Tang realized he couldn’t talk to everyone in person one by one and give them more accurate information. As a result, The Epoch Times was born. The newspaper is now a multinational media published in 35 countries and 21 languages.
Orange County attorney and Epoch Times fan Richard J. Albrecht says he gets the newspaper every week, and on Saturday mornings he spends two hours drinking coffee and reading through the pages.
“The reason why I like it is its traditional journalism. I know that’s advertised, but it truly is traditional journalism,” he said.
He especially appreciates the in-depth reporting about the relationship between America and China, which he said he can’t seem to find anywhere else. He was also excited to hear about the new office, saying Orange County is a good location for the company to start to gain a foothold in the state of California. “I think it’s a wise decision on their part,” he said.
The Epoch Times now has about 350 retail locations in major grocery stores and 7-Elevens in Orange County, said Khorrami, but many people choose to purchase a subscription to the print or digital paper.
Khorrami, who was born and raised in Iran, has another unique perspective about the value of responsible journalism.
“I grew up during the war between Iran and Iraq. At that time, the Iranian media would always portray Iraqis as evil, and the U.S. and Israel as corrupt countries,” he said.
“Since I had family in the U.S., I didn’t believe them completely and I could tell it was propaganda. But because there was an ongoing war between Iran and Iraq, and I had seen and heard the bombings, these negative thoughts about Iraqis still stuck with me.”
However, after moving to Mexico at the age of 16, and then immigrating legally to the United States at 18, he attended university in Southern California and was able to meet some Iraqi people.
“Strangely enough, I found out that they were very similar to Iranians. I realized that Iraqi people not only looked like me, but they even ate similar food and have similar family values,” he said
“In fact, I began to wonder why I disliked them at all. At this point, I realized I had been brainwashed by the media in Iran, and it became clear to me just how much the media could shape people’s opinions.”
