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Saturday 13 March 2010 (UAE)

Daily Newspapers in the Dubai and the UAE

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Local English newspapers published in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and the UAE (website links open in new window)

7 Days (www.7days.ae) - established 2004, free, was published six days a week (not Saturdays) until end 2006, then seven days per week, then back to six days per week as of March 2007. 7 Days usually writes more provocative articles than the other papers in Dubai (and gets its fair share of flak as a result). Tabloid style. Contact Al Sidra Media, PO Box 35207, Dubai, tel +971-4-2831317, fax +971-4-2833142, email letters@7days.ae or distribution@7days.ae.
Emirates Business 24/7 (www.business24-7.ae) - UAE business newspaper launched 09 December 2007 to replace Emirates Today. Website slightly improved from the Emirates Today effort but still user-unfriendly compared to most other newspaper websites. Good coverage of business related news, although lacking in criticism of anything related to the UAE.
Emirates Today (discontinued December 2007) - a bit like 7 Days but much less provocative, and articles sometimes had more depth (or padding). Tabloid style. Irritating website. Managing Editor Eudore Chand. Newspaper replaced by Emirates Business 24/7 from 09 December 2007. Website (www.emiratestodayonline.com) was taken offline, an absurd decision, making their news archive inaccessible.
Financial Times - not a UAE newspaper but since 2003, it has been printed in Dubai. The FT is a well-known UK business newspaper with a focus on UK and international corporate news, but with little content related directly to Dubai and UAE business news. From 29 April 2008 the FT Middle East edition included a page with Middle East related news. Once or twice a week.
Gulf News (www.gulfnews.com) - seems to be the most popular with western expats. Broadsheet. Biggest selection of classifieds - property, cars, jobs. Submit feedback, story ideas, comments to the Citizen Journalism line - phone +971-4-4067666 from 0830-2030 Sat-Thu (started Nov 2006). Editor-in-Chief Abdul Hamid Ahmad. Price 3 dhs from 01 January 2008.
International Herald Tribune (IHT, USA) possibly considering a Dubai / UAE / Middle East edition in conjunction with the Khaleej Times, with an office in Dubai under consideration (partnership agreed in April 2008).
Khaleej Times (www.khaleejtimes.com) - main competitor to the Gulf News, seems to be more popular with the Asian community. Relatively good business section. Broadsheet.
The Al Ain Times (www.alaintimesuae.com) - first issue September 2006, local weekly English and Arabic newspaper for Al Ain residents. Published on Saturdays by Alpha Beta Publishers, PO Box 15229, Al Ain, UAE. Tel +971-3-7671995 (still valid?). Website www.alaintimes.ae and tel +971-3-7644102 no longer valid. 15 October 2009 issue has tel +971-3-4554506, fax +971-3-7557508, email alaintimes@gmail.com.
The Daily Telegraph / The Telegraph (UK) - probably not considering a UAE edition but there was some talk about it around the time The Times started printing in Dubai.
The Dubai Enquirer (www.dubaienquirer.com) - dry sarcastic Dubai news. Not a print newspaper but a website only, and it's all complete nonsense (see their disclaimer). Possibly discontinued?
The Emirates Evening Post (discontinued April 2007) - afternoon/evenings, website links to PDF files of each page, tel +971-4-3405566. Publisher Press Centre and Art Productions LLC, Sharjah. Website www.eveningpost.ae (no longer in operation).
The Gulf Today (www.godubai.com/gulftoday/) - daily broadsheet similar to the others, published by Dar Al Khaleej in Sharjah - they also publish the Arabic newspaper Al Khaleej. First published in 1996.
The National (www.thenational.ae) - Abu Dhabi based broadsheet with lots of pages, lots of journalists, and lots of money. Owned by the Abu Dhabi government, published by Abu Dhabi Media Company, editor-in-chief was Martin Newland until June 2009, replaced by Hassan Fattah. Launched 17 April 2008 with the expectation of not suffering from government, er, self-censorship, as other newspapers in the region allegedly do. Except when the boss says "Understand now that we are not here to fight for press freedom." Allegedly. Or something like that. Six days a week (not Saturdays) until 15 November 2008. From then on "The National on Saturday" weekend edition with magazine was published.
The Times (UK) since May 2007 prints and distributes an international edition in the UAE.
The Times of India (India) was reportedly considering a Middle East edition but the idea was shelved.
Xpress (www.xpress4me.com) - weekly tabloid kicked off in March 2007. Published by Al Nisr Media (they publish the daily Gulf News). Free? In some locations at least. Website updated daily?

Arabic newspapers published in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and the UAE

Akhbar Al Arab (www.akhbaralarab.ae) - displays PDF of front page in frame on home page. Strange.
Al Alam - weekly Arabic language newspaper based in Dubai, launched 05 April 2007. Email alalam@alalam.ae, website www.alalam.ae (not available December 2009).
Al Bayan (www.albayan.ae) - tel +971-4-3444400. Editor-in-Chief Dhae'en Shaheen.
Al Emarat Al Youm (www.emaratalyoum.com), Editor-in-Chief Sami Al Riyami. Suspended from publication for 20 days from 06 July 2009 on the instructions of an Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal ruling, upheld by the Supreme Federal Court of the UAE. The newspaper had been sued by the owners of the Warsan Stables (the Abu Dhabi Royal Family) for publishing a story in 2006 claiming their horses had been drugged with steriods.
Al Ittihad (www.alittihad.ae) ("The Union"). Editor-in-Chief Rashid Al Uraimi. Established 1969 by Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Ruler of Abu Dhabi at the time. Published 7 days per week by the Abu Dhabi Media Company. New look unveiled 20 October 2009 (on the 40th anniversary).
Al Khaleej (www.alkhaleej.ae) - not the same as the Khaleej Times. Also publishes The Gulf Today. Tel 8006888 (toll free in UAE), +971-4-2625304 in Dubai, or +971-6-5777777 in Sharjah. Started 1970? Editor-in-Chief is Habib Al Sayegh
Al Mal (www.almalnews.ae) - weekly financial newspaper launched 23 June 2008, covers UAE and Gulf region, 48 page tabloid format, published by The National Publisher in Abu Dhabi.
Al-Reyadha Wa Al-Shabab - magazine? No website?
Al Watan newspaper - in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia (same name, different newspaper?) but not in the UAE?
Alrroya (www.alrroya.com) (Al Roya / Alroya?) - "Alrroya Aleqtisadiya" Arabic business newspaper launched 15 March 2009, published by Imedia in Abu Dhabi. Tel +971-2-6517777.
Emarat Times - Arabic enewspaper launched 01 June 2009, available online only (www.emarattimes.com). Editor in Chief is Saif Al Marri, Managing Editor is Salman Al Shashaa / Shasha, publisher Dar Al Sada Publishing in Dubai. Tel +971-4-4227366, fax +971-4-4227368, email news@emarattimes.com

Other newspapers published in the UAE

Daily Ash Sharq International - Urdu newspaper for Pakistan audience, tel +971-4-2659165, fax +971-4-2659665, email nadxb@emirates.net.ae
People's Daily of China - considering an overseas edition to be published in the UAE (WAM report 17 November 2009).

International newspapers available in Dubai and UAE

There's a good range of international newspapers - most UK dailies are available and a selection from many other countries - Geant, Carrefour, Spinneys, and Waitrose supermarkets have a good choice. The website www.todaily.com gives details of how you can get your favorite international newspaper delivered. Prices are steep though - 2 to 4 times what they cost in the country of origin.

Online news sources in the UAE

Most online news sources simply aggregate content from print publishers and newswires, sometimes automated. Usually going to Google news (news.google.com) and typing in "Dubai", "Abu Dhabi" or "UAE" provides much the same result (or better if you refine your search terms).

AME Info (www.ameinfo.com) - a company database, and collection of press releases related to the Middle East. Also frequent short summaries of what other newspapers publish, and sometimes original reports and video clips.
Arabian Business (www.arabianbusiness.com) - publishes a popular print magazine about Middle East business news. Online has daily updates, mostly secondary versions of stories in other newspapers ("A report in the blahblahblah daily today said ..." kind of thing)
Arab Eastern Newspaper Dubai - website www.arabeastern.com (under maintenance December 2009), online only, news aggregator? Email team@arabeastern.com, tel +971-4-3758073.
DPM News Agency - News aggregator? Also publishes DPM Economist. Tel +971-4-3902244, email info@dpm.ae, websites www.dpm.ae and www.dpmnewsagency.com (not available December 2009), or maybe www.dubaiphotomedia.com.
Emarat Business Review - business news in Dubai, online only, email editor@emaratbusiness.com, website www.emaratbusiness.com, news aggregator?
Kipp Report - seems to be mostly a rehash of other newspaper stories from the UAE and Middle East but sometimes with an interesting point of view. Online only?
Zawya - a company database and online business news source for the Middle East based in Dubai. News articles are mostly press releases, repeats of content from other news sources, and Zawya Dow Jones reports. Subscription based. Website www.zawya.com.

UAE press freedom

Residents and visitors will note a difference in tone between local and foreign press coverage of Dubai and the UAE. UAE-based newspapers are noticeably lacking in negative reporting about the UAE, especially anything related to the UAE government, and especially anything related to the emirate in which they are published. Or bad news will be spun in a more positive light. This censorship is somewhat nebulous as it is driven internally by the media, rather than from an explicit external instruction not to publish bad news about the UAE (at least not a public proclamation to make it clear what is permitted and what is not). Of the UAE newspapers, The National and 7 Days seem to be the least timid when it comes to pushing boundaries of press freedom in the UAE, but their reporting is still a long way from the bluntness with which journalists in many other countries write their articles. Some of the self-imposed censorship is pragmatic as it is apparently unlawful to be disrespectful about authority figures in the UAE. Members of the ruling families are obviously to be respected. But whether visiting politicians, non-royal government members, non-government royal family members, business, sports, and other personalities of note are included, and what constitutes disrespect, is not so clear so most residents and media publications usually err on the side of caution.

An unfortunate consequence of this situation is that when something bad does happen in the UAE that is newsworthy internationally (for example a crash in property prices, indebted expats losing jobs and fleeing the country to avoid jail, a large potential debt default by a Dubai government owned company, a royal family member being accused of torture), the foreign press is accused of fabrication, distortion, and attacking Dubai and the UAE for no reason. A description that many would apply to journalists and newspapers anywhere in the world. But it does seem to make it even more difficult to find objectivity about the UAE. It's clear that the foreign press (especially many western publications) delight in overdoing the negativity, but it's equally clear that the local press to a large extent, ignore it. For accurate and objective information, the newswires AP, AFP, Bloomberg, and Reuters seem to be about the most balanced although Bloomberg and Reuters focus more on the business and financial world. The Financial Times is also worth reading but as it is an international newspaper (albeit printed in Dubai now), there is little in the way of local news on a day to day basis, and the focus is also on business and economics.

For most residents, any one of the local English language daily newspapers will do a reasonable job of keeping you informed of UAE related news - at least about things like rainy days and flooded roads, who won the football, upcoming events, changes in visa rules (sometimes), opening ceremonies for letters and other items of significance, traffic accidents (thankfully they've stopped the bizzare "Accident of the Week" competitions), random court cases, drug crimes, and so on. Otherwise, the UAE is relatively tolerant when it comes to news access on the internet (even Israeli newspaper website access was freed up in 2009), or buying overseas publications. There are very few, if any, news sources that are not accessible online.

Letters to the Editor

The letters page is often a popular source of conversation amongst expats, many of whom probably look at the letters before reading anything else in a Dubai newspaper. The Gulf News was the most talked about, at least until 7 Days came along and introduced a whole new level of eyebrow-raising letter writing - there are rumours that some of them are written in-house.

Generally Letters to the Editor appear to deal with the same subjects repeatedly. The major topics are Traffic in Dubai, Rental Costs for Accommodation, and Lost or Found Mobile Phones in Taxis. There's a minor sub-cycle something like Pet Shops in Satwa, Cricket, Driving Standards, Cricket again, Mobile Phones in Cinemas, Dubai Zoo, more about Cricket, Weight of School Bags, School Buses with no A/C, and occasionally a political rant about something to do with a googly interfering with a silly mid-off.

Gulf News Reader's Club

Readers can submit articles for publication. Send application to readers@gulfnews.com.
Established July 2006 with six members, up to about 50 members by November 2006.
A bit like letters to the editor but you can send in a longer diatribe.

Last update Monday 08-Feb-2010

Gulf News in Dubai - daily, well-established newspaper
Magazines in Dubai
Newspapers in Dubai - complain, correct, comment, ask questions about this page in the forum.
Radio Stations in Dubai
The National newspaper Abu Dhabi - new (in 2008) daily English paper

Related websites (open in new window)

dubaimedia.blogspot.com - Dubai Media Observer blog - an ascerbic critique of UAE newspapers and media. Sometimes interesting but mostly a platform for someone called 'Anonymous' to demonstrate their familiarity with English expletives.
www.khaleejtimes.com - Khaleej Times newspaper website
www.todaily.com - Todaily website, cheaper international newspapers delivered to your home or office. Appears to be abandoned when checked June 2009
www.wam.ae or www.wam.org.ae - WAM news website. WAM is the official UAE news agency.
www.xpress4me.com - Xpress newspaper website, print edition published weekly, online updated more often.
Dubai directory - add your link free

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