Staff mark three decades of success

There has been a celebratory mood in Gulf News offices as the newspaper marked the beginning of the 30th year of publication.

Staff wore specially printed orange or beige-coloured polo shirts bearing the Gulf News 30 years logo, and helium-filled balloons floated around the newsroom.

Click here to listen to Associate Editor Nicholas Coates (mp3)

Nicholas Coates, Associate Editor of Gulf News, said the operation at today's paper was unrecognisable from the one he joined just over 20 years ago.

Back then, pages were physically made by staff who glued copy onto the page; now everything is done by computer.

Coates said the most important changes were in the paper itself, which now offers readers more than ever before.

Click here to listen to Editor at Large Francis Matthews (mp3)

"It was a tabloid with far fewer pages then, but now it is a broadsheet with a great bundle of supplements, including several advertising supplements," he said.