Warriors of the dawn

Every morning around the UAE, residents wake up to find Gulf News waiting for them. While most of us are fast asleep, Gulf News staff members are hard at work in the early hours, making sure the paper is there first thing in the morning on your doorstep, bringing with it the news of the world. This is their journey...

Once the newspapers are printed, there is a flurry of activity as almost 100 Gulf News employees are busy loading the papers into their vehicles for distribution.
The newspapers come out of large docks, bundled in stacks of ten or 12. All the main sections are folded together with the additional advertising sections - Classifieds, Properties, Freehold, etc. - added manually. Each area of the city has its own manager, who is responsible for delegating and guiding workers assigned to an area. So Rashidya has a manager with a number of newsboys under him, while Umm Suqeim has separate staff.

The first newspapers off the press are destined for the hotels and airports. The remainder are shipped out of the country and to all the emirates of the UAE.

Deadlines are not just for journalists. Distribution also has strict deadlines. They have only three hours to get the newspapers from the Gulf News building to homes and businesses around the city. Since time is of the essence, the pace of work is quick and there are no dawdlers.

If one of the newsboys is ill, it takes extra effort from everyone involved to get all the papers out on time. Each individual is essential in ensuring the newspapers reach readers' doorsteps and newsstands as early as possible each morning.