'I joined Gulf News at a turning point'

Dubai: Raju Nagarajan was a freelancer in Iran in the late 1970s for the news agency Press Trust of India but an unexpected turn of events brought him to Dubai where he landed a job as the night editor for Gulf News.

"That was the time when we had the situation of the American hostages, which was coming to a climax," said Nagarajan.

Gulf News covered the hostage crisis, especially events on April 25, 1980, when an attempt by the US to free the hostages in Tehran collapsed with the death of eight soldiers.

Two helicopters went down, and another collided. The crisis marked the lowest point for US President Jimmy Carter and ruined his chances of retaining his residency at the White House. It ushered in the Ronald Reagan presidency.

"There was no press freedom in Iran before the revolution and then the new government started expelling journalists after the US rescue mission. I left shortly afterwards."

Nagarajan was told by the new Iranian government to stop reporting or he would be deported within 24 hours.

It was on his way back home to India that he decided to spend a few days in Dubai while transiting, and by chance met a friend who introduced him to Gulf News editor John McDonald.

Nagarajan worked at the newspaper from late 1979 to mid-1981.

"Even though I didn't stay for a long time I have a lot of memories," he said, as he joined the organisation at a turning point when Gulf News was moving from a tabloid to a broadsheet.

"The challenges of changing the newspaper were very big. One of the first things we had to change was to focus on the quality of the newspaper and not just on the quantity of stories."

His main priority was to ensure that the quality was up to the mark, which included the overall display, layout and especially the editing on the front page.

Significant event

One of the most significant events he encountered was the first Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit.

"The first GCC summit was inaugurated in Abu Dhabi and I remember it well because we gave it special coverage and remember thinking that it was another European Union in the formation."

The important issue for readers at the start of the 1980s evolved around Opec (the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) because the price of oil was always under the microscope, he said.

The newsroom had a good mix of nationalities back then. Reflecting on how the newspaper has evolved over the past three decades, he said a great deal of local content had been generated, which was not previously possible due to the lack of resources that amounted to a maximum of eight reporters.

"In terms of local content, the number of pages has increased. Today it is a very respectable newspaper and very strong."

Nagarajan has since moved on to work for local television networks and is currently the managing director of a business news publication.