The Times ought to cease publication in Dubai
Sadly The Sunday Times today missed publishing this photo of Paris Hilton in front of The Atlantis Hotel in Dubai which appeared on a Canadian website. All it could offer Dubai readers in a free copy published locally was a single story about the ruler of Dubai and a house purchase near to Newmarket.
One has to wonder how long this venerable British newspaper will continue rolling its presses in Dubai where it seemingly has less to say than its former editor Simon Jenkins whose recent Guardian article about Dubai proved highly offensive locally, more for its factual inaccuracies than obvious bias.
Internet site
If people in Dubai want to read The Times than they have only to turn to its extensive website or surf for its articles on Google.
It is interesting to read about green issues in its pages, but then perhaps ceasing publication in Dubai would save more trees – and an awful lot of paper must be wasted in the copies thrown over the walls of local villas to meet newspaper audits.
The plan fact is that whoever thought that distributing The Times in Dubai might one day prove a money spinner ought to be fired, if indeed the Murdoch family needs any prompting to do the honorable thing.
The outpourings of Wapping are just not relevant in Dubai. There is a three thousand mile cultural gap, and what appeals to the average UK person on a Sunday is hardly relevant in Dubai. Even a British visitor to Dubai might want to learn a little more about this Middle East multicultural enclave and not about the many problems of the UK.
Publishing error
How did this ever happen? Dubai is not the Costa del Fish-and-Chips. Nobody here wants to read long and arguably largely fictional articles about what might have happened in the UK last week.
Local advertisers have also largely voted with their feet. Who wants to know about the 299-pound, 32-inch television on sale at Richer Sounds in the UK? And does Richer Sounds really want to be promoting its cut-price TV in Dubai?
Surely the Al Murdochs know what is working and what does not, and ought to stop wasting their money by publishing newspapers in Dubai that nobody reads and which have nothing worth reading in them. But of course like any super-rich family what they choose to spend their own money on is their own business.
I feel that the newspaper and publication scene in Dubai is over saturated. The competition was fierce with just 2 papers- GN and KT, and the Gulf Today made it even more cut-throat. The “freebies” bunch- 7 days, ex-emirates evening post, emirates today,business 24/7 made newspapers a commodity that people in Dubai feel they did’nt need to pay for, especially with the the onset of high speed internet in the country.
I feel that the Sunday times was bullish in 2007 when it came in, thinking there is a market for foriegn newspapers. Just like the couture stores that thought they could open a store and make money, they thought charging AED 7 a copy was a good idea. Not in the free newspaper regime right now!. FYI- A company called todaily in DMC can can deliver almost any newspaper to your door for a price, so in fact, the Sunday times really had no chance!.
ben
July 5, 2009 at 10:20 pm