 | |
 Gulf News (cover of 22 May 2018) | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Berliner |
| Owner | Al Nisr Publishing |
| Founded | 30 September 1978; 47 years ago (1978-09-30) |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | Dubai,United Arab Emirates |
| Country | United Arab Emirates |
| Circulation | 108,187 (daily) 108,777 (weekend) (December 2012)[1] |
| OCLC number | 232115522 |
| Website | www |
Gulf News is a dailyEnglish languagenewspaper published fromDubai,United Arab Emirates. First launched in 1978, it is distributed throughout theUAE and also in otherPersian Gulf countries. Its online edition was launched in 1996. Through its ownerAl Nisr Publishing, it is a subsidiary of theAl Tayer Group, which is chaired by UAE Finance MinisterObaid Al Tayer.
Gulf News was first launched intabloid format on 30 September 1978,[2] but struggled in its early years.[3] 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 andJuma 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[3] and was free to the public. From February 1986, the public was charged onedirham (US 27 cents) a copy for theGulf 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 otherGCC countries:Bahrain from September 1987;Oman from April 1989;Saudi Arabia from March 1989; andQatar from April 1989. It also became available inPakistan from August 1988. In order to provide better local coverage for its readers,Gulf News opened various bureaus: theAbu 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 theNew Delhi bureau in November 1995.
In November 1995, the width of the paper'sbroadsheet pages was reduced by four centimetres, to create the new international size of 38 centimetres.Al Nisr Publishing became alimited liability company (LLC) with a share capital of Dh15 million on 26 May 1997.
The first online edition ofGulf 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.[4] It was relaunched in 2025, becoming the first dynamic news website in the UAE.
From 2008 to December 2024, Abdul Hamid Ahmad was theeditor-in-chief of the paper.[5] Shyam Krishna has since served as Acting Editor of the newspaper. Regular op-ed contributors toGulf 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 onSheikh Zayed Road in April 2000.
Gulf News changed its format toBerliner on 1 June 2012, being the first Berliner-format daily published in theArab countries.[6] 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. Then editor-in-chief Abdul Hamid Ahmad said that rising costs of paper, ink, logistics and declining advertisement revenue have contributed to this decision.[7]
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.
On 3 July 2007,Gulf News revisited the issue ofOrkut'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 monopolyEtisalat.[8] The ensuingmoral panic resulted in a renewed ban of the site by Etisalat by 4 July 2007.[9]
Gulf News launched its first online edition in 1996, initially serving as an archive for its print publication and managed by library staff. However, it was the website’s major relaunch in 2005 and the introduction of a dedicated team of online journalists that marked a turning point in its digital evolution. With this transformation,gulfnews.com became the first dynamic news platform in the UAE to offer real-time news updates, breaking news coverage, and online exclusives, establishing itself as a standalone digital news source.
In 2010,gulfnews.com was reported byForbes Middle East to be the most-read English-language online newspaper in both the UAE and the widerMiddle East andNorth Africa(MENA) region . The publication also ranked seventh among all online newspapers in the same survey.[10][non-primary source needed] In a separateForbes Middle East report covering the period from 31 August 2011 to 31 August 2012, it was listed as the third most-read online newspaper in theArab world in the period from 31 August 2011 to 31 August 2012.[11][better source needed] Gulf News received recognition for its digital and print innovations at the 2016WAN-Ifra Asian Media Awards,[12][13] winning multiple honors in editorial and design categories.
Web Editor Florence Pia Yu, who started writing for Gulf News in 2001 before becoming part of the pioneering online editorial team from 2005 to 2018, became the first online journalist to win Dubai's DSF Journalism Awards twice. Her articles promoting Dubai’s lifestyle and cultural scene earned her back-to-back wins[14] at the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) Journalism and Photography Awards in 2012 and 2013. The awards were presented by Sheikh Majid Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, then Chairman of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority.
In January 2009,Gulf News ran a column by Mohammad Abdullah Al Mutawa that claimed theHolocaust was a lie.[15]
Today, the whole world stands as a witness to the fact that the Nazi holocaust was a mere lie, which was devised by the Zionists to blackmail humanity. The same Zionist entity swindled the world out of billions of dollars over the years to compensate the wrong and unjust which they claim to have been inflicted on their people. It is evident that the holocaust was a conspiracy hatched by the Zionists and Nazis, and many innocent people gave their lives as a result of this inhuman plot.[15]
The article has since been removed fromGulf News' website.[16]
On 15 December 2013,Gulf News in its editorial claimed without mentioning any source thatPakistan andAfghanistan did not vote for Dubai in its bid forExpo 2020.[17] TheForeign Office of Pakistan quickly brushed aside the allegations as baseless mentioning the facts that Pakistan was committed to bid forTurkeyIzmir since Turkey approached Pakistan for its support in 2011 long before Dubai even expressed its interest to host Expo 2020.[18] Javed Jalil Khattak,Consulate General of Pakistan in Dubai, in an open letter toGulf News termed the editorial as "an orchestrated attempt to damage and defame the historic fraternal relations between Pakistan and the UAE",[19] while the editorial drew an angry reaction from thePakistani expat community in the UAE.[20]
On 10 July 2017, Francis Matthew, former Editor and then Editor-at-Large atGulf News, was charged with the murder of his wife allegedly with a hammer blow to her head, over finances.[21] According to the charge, he killed her in the early morning of 4 July 2017,[22] then went to work and held meetings as normal, after which he then returned in the evening to their villa and reported to police that thieves had broken in and assaulted her. After questioning he admitted he killed her, claiming she harangued him when a huge argument erupted over finances and debts totalling some 1 million dirhams (£200,000). Subsequently, controversy surrounding his sentencing and re-sentencing has led to media reports. In October 2018, his sentence was increased from 10 years to 15 years, with pleas from Jane Matthew's family to change the charge from physical assault to premeditated murder.[23] But then, due to the death of Jane's father, his lawyers were allowed to appeal again, as UAE newspaperThe National reported: "Jane's only surviving legal heir, her son, had previously signed a waiver dropping criminal charges against his father. This meant all private charges against him had been dropped but that public law – the right of government law against an accused – was still applicable. In UAE law, if the legal successors of a victim drop charges and waive their private rights, the court is still obliged to impose a penalty against the accused under public law – but it will be a shorter term.".[24] While the minimum sentence for murder in the UAE is 10 years, Matthew's defence expects a reduction to two years based on public law. The case is ongoing.[25][needs update]
Media related toGulf News at Wikimedia Commons
