Saman Arbabi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Saman Arbabi
Saman Arbabi on location in Lebanon in 2006.
Born	1973 Tehran, Imperial State of Iran
Occupation	Journalist

Saman Arbabi (Persian: سامان اربابی; born 1973) is an Iranian-American journalist and creator of popular TV shows. He is known for making funny shows that also talk about important political and media topics. His work includes the Voice of America shows Parazit and OnTen.

Early Life and Education

Saman Arbabi was born in Tehran, Imperial State of Iran, in 1973. When he was 12, he moved to France in 1985. A year later, in 1986, he moved to the United States. He studied Communications and Art at the University of Maryland University College.

Starting His Career

Saman Arbabi began his career as an intern for a popular radio show in Washington D.C. A producer from ABC radio liked his sense of humor. This producer invited him to work at the station.

In 2003, Saman joined Voice of America (VOA). He became their first Iranian video journalist. As a video journalist, he traveled to many places. He reported from countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Syria, and Egypt. He covered important events, including talks in Vienna, Austria, in 2006. He created over 100 stories from the Middle East and North Africa.

Parazit: A Hit Satire Show

In 2009, Saman Arbabi created a show called Parazit. This was a weekly, half-hour show in the Persian language. It was a satirical show, meaning it used humor and exaggeration to make fun of serious topics, especially politics.

Parazit became very popular in Iran. It was sometimes called "The Daily Show of Iran." It had an estimated 35 million viewers. Saman's unique and bold style was copied by many people in Iran. People even started using the word "Paraziti" to describe fans who dressed like him.

Because Parazit was so successful, the government-run media in Iran tried to make Saman and his work look bad. They even created their own funny show to try and stop Parazit's influence.

Appearing on The Daily Show

On January 20, 2011, Saman Arbabi and his co-host, Kambiz Hosseini, were special guests on The Daily Show. This is a very famous American satirical news show. At the end of their interview, the host, Jon Stewart, praised them. He said they were like his show, but with "real guts." He was proud to be in the same group of humorists as them.

OnTen and Tablet

After Parazit, Saman Arbabi created another successful political satire show in 2011 called OnTen. This show also became very popular in Iran. It had over one million fans on Facebook.

In 2015, he created another Persian show called Tablet. This show was hosted by Masih Alinejad, a well-known human rights activist and journalist. Tablet became the second most influential Iranian show after Parazit.

The Iranian government has continued to try and make Saman Arbabi's work seem bad.

Special Projects and Collaborations

In 2013, Saman Arbabi gave a talk at SXSW, a big festival. His talk was called "Iranian Outlaws: Satire vs. Censorship." During this talk, he introduced "Weapons of Mouse Destruction." This was a huge art project aimed at fighting internet censorship around the world.

For this project, he worked with famous artists like Shepard Fairey. He also invited Twitter co-founder Evan Williams to join the campaign.

On June 14, 2013, during a special election-day broadcast, OnTen featured a segment about JR's Inside Out Project. They also aired a special message for the Iranian people from U2's lead singer, Bono.

Awards and Recognition

Saman Arbabi has received many awards for his work:

• 2004 - Voice of America Award for Excellence in Programming (for his coverage of Afghanistan)
• 2006 - Voice of America Superior Accomplishment Award (for his reporting on the Lebanese-Israeli war)
• 2007 - His music video "Edeaa" was selected for the Tribeca Film Festival
• 2008 - Winner of The World Academy of Arts, Literature, And Media (WAALM)
• 2009 - Voice of America Superior Accomplishment Award (for his coverage of the Iranian election uprising)
• 2011 - Voice of America Gold Medal Award Winner (VOA's highest honor)
• 2012 - Bronze medal at New York Festival's Best Television and Films award
• 2012 - Recognized by Washington Life magazine as one of "The Young And The Guest List"
• 2013 - CINE Golden Eagle Spring 2013 Special Recognition for Televised Series