Gulf News
Gulf News is a daily English language newspaper published from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was first launched in 1978, and is currently distributed throughout the UAE and also in other Persian Gulf Countries. Its online edition was launched in 1996.
Type
Through its owner Al Nisr Publishing, it is a subsidiary of the Al Tayer Group, which is chaired by UAE Finance Minister Obaid Al Tayer.
History and profile[edit]
Gulf News was first launched in tabloid format on 30 September 1978,[3] but struggled in its early years.[4] In November 1984, three UAE businessmen purchased the company and formed Al Nisr Publishing. The new owners of the paper were Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Abdullah Al Rostamani and Juma Al Majid. With the death of Abdullah Al Rostamani in 2006, his position on the board is held by a family nominee while the other directors remain.
Under new ownership, Gulf News was relaunched on 10 December 1985[4] and was free to the public. From February 1986, the public was charged one dirham (US 27 cents) a copy for the Gulf News package which comprised the broadsheet newspaper and a leisure supplement called Tabloid, which also contained classifieds.
After moving into new premises in 1986, Gulf News began to be distributed to other GCC countries: Bahrain from September 1987; Oman from April 1989; Saudi Arabia from March 1989; and Qatar from April 1989. It also became available in Pakistan from August 1988. In order to provide better local coverage for its readers, Gulf News opened various bureaus: the Abu Dhabi bureau was opened in 1982; Bahrain bureau in January 1988; Oman bureau in 1989; Manila bureau in August 1990; Al Ain bureau in 1994; Sharjah bureau in May 1995; and the New Delhi bureau in November 1995.
In November 1995, the width of the paper's broadsheet pages was reduced by four centimetres, to create the new international size of 38 centimetres. Al Nisr Publishing became a limited liability company (LLC) with a share capital of Dh15 million on 26 May 1997.
The first online edition of Gulf News was launched on 1 September 1996. The daily launched video news in its online edition in the second part of the 2000s, being among the first in the region.[5]
As of 2008, Abdul Hamid Ahmad was the editor-in-chief of the paper.[6] Regular op-ed contributors to Gulf News include: Uri Avnery, Kuldip Nayar, Faisal Alkasim, Joseph A. Kechichian, Sami Moubayed, Marwan Al Kabalan, Rakesh Mani, Linda S. Heard, Stuart Reigeluth and Wael Al Sayegh. Gulf News moved to its present headquarters on Sheikh Zayed Road in April 2000.
Gulf News changed its format to Berliner on 1 June 2012, being the first Berliner-format daily published in the Arab countries.[7] On 2 June 2023, Gulf News in an editorial published on its front page, informed its readers that it will stop its print edition on weekends, starting from 3 June 2023. The newspaper's editor-in-chief Abdul Hamid Ahmad said that rising costs of paper, ink, logistics and declining advertisement revenue have contributed to this decision.[8]
Sponsorship and promotion[edit]
The Gulf News Fun Drive was started in March 1986. The 26th Fun Drive was held in December 2006 and saw 750 all-terrain vehicles with over 2,800 participants.
Role in Orkut ban[edit]
On 3 July 2007, Gulf News revisited the issue of Orkut's "immoral activities" communities, publishing complaints from members of the public against Orkut communities like "Dubai Sex", and officially bringing the complaints to the attention of the state telecom monopoly Etisalat.[9] The ensuing moral panic resulted in a renewed ban of the site by Etisalat by 4 July 2007.[10]
Reception[edit]
The online edition of Gulf News was reported by Forbes Middle East in 2010 to be the most-read among the English-language online newspapers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as well as in the UAE. The paper's online version was the seventh most visited website among all online newspapers in the same ranking.[11] Forbes Middle East named it as the third online newspaper overall in the Arab world in the period from 31 August 2011 to 31 August 2012.[12] The newspaper has been awarded few trophies at the 2016 WAN-Ifra Asian Media Awards.[13][14]
