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Exploring

Activities

Sports & Activities

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Leisure Facilities

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• Beach Clubs
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Well-Being

• Well-Being
• Beauty Salons
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Expand Your Horizons

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General Information » Further Reading » Newspapers & Magazines

The UAE has a growing number of daily English language newspapers. Until 2004 there were three main players: Gulf News, Khaleej Times and Gulf Today, all available for Dhs.2 every day, except for Fridays when a glossy magazine is included and the price goes up to Dhs.3. All three titles were of somewhat dubious quality compared to the top newspapers in other countries, with Gulf News being better in terms of design, writing and editorial comment. These newspapers are all government mouthpieces to varying extent, and so you will rarely read anything critical of the UAE government, any member of the royal family or the interests of big business in the region. However, the last year has seen a big shake-up in the industry, starting in December 2004 with the launch of 7Days. Although it started out as a weekly paper, this tabloid-size publication is now distributed free of charge six days a week, and features local and international news, business news, entertainment news and an excellent sports section. It has definitely pushed some of the boundaries of press freedom, which can only benefit the industry in the long run. The Emirates Evening Post is a daily broadsheet distributed in the afternoons, costing Dhs.2. The editor staged a very public walkout in the latter half of 2005 and admid rumours of a complete overhaul, it remains to be seen what the final product will be like. Emirates Today was launched in September 2005 and claims it will be the first newspaper to truly follow the principles of freedom of the press (principles that are advocated fully by Sheikh Mohammed). It is still early days for the paper, but it contains some interesting human interest pieces and weekly columns. The glossy magazine inserted into the paper on Fridays, called etc., offers some good reading. Emirates Today is also published in Arabic, and other Arabic newspapers include Al Bayan, Al Ittihad and Al Khaleej.

Foreign newspapers, most prominently French, German, British and Asian, are readily available in supermarkets and hotel book shops, although they are more expensive than at home (about Dhs.8 – 12) and slightly out of date. An exciting development is the new service offered by Todaily (www.todaily.com), where you can get your favourite international newspaper on the same day that it is published in its home country, albeit printed on plain paper and held together by a staple. Limited copies are available in Carrefour and Spinneys, but if you log onto their website you can subscribe to any of over 200 titles from around the world.

The local mag...

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This excerpt was taken from

Dubai Explorer
Series: Complete Residents Guides