THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES IS THE NEW FLEET STREET ACCORDING TO LONDON NEWSPAPER BOSSES
December 26th 2007 10:56
Former Daily Telegraph editor Martin Newland is starting up an English-language Abu Dhabi newspaper from scratch, but in an interview with the Observer in the UK he declined to reveal neither the name of the paper nor expectations of circulation.
But he did reveal that the staff will comprise 175 journalists including 40 home news reporters and 25 foreign correspondents, with staff recruited from Fleet Street, the New Yorker, Wall Street Journal and Canada's National Post, which he launched 10 years ago.
The newspaper is one of a series of English-language publications being launched in the Gulf by British journalists. Earlier in December, Frank Kane, former Sunday Times and Observer business editor, launched Business 24/7 in Dubai.
He said, “'People know a bit about the UAE but don't know that it's a free society. OK, it is not a one-man, one-vote democracy, but the rulers are very accountable, women have equal access to jobs, no one gets beaten for drinking alcohol. It is a society of immense sophistication with a huge, emerging middle class who have decided to make their lives here.
“There is a huge tendency to stereotype in the west about the Middle East but it is nuanced, very complex. Part of the idea is to build a media institution that reflects what is happening, to show that Abu Dhabi is not just about getting richer but is a good place to live.”
Newland's new paper is owned by the Abu Dhabi Media Company, recently set up by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, ruler of the Emirate, and wholly government-owned. Other states in the region are operating similar models. Business 24/7 in Dubai is owned by the Arab Media Company, which also belongs eventually to the ruling family.
The Times has been printing 15,000 copies a day in Dubai since May, its business editor, James Harding, is currently hosting a week-long business forum in the city with a staff of nine. But the Telegraph hit back in October by launching a temporary Dubai online edition, a ‘click-and-carry’ pdf that can be downloaded and printed off.
James Harding said, “The area is transforming itself into a hub for investment, trade, travel and leisure. We have come here en masse to try to understand one of the world's biggest unfolding stories."
- From MediaBlab
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