First newspaper to go all colour on January 31, 1986
First newspaper to launch a website in the Gulf in 1996
First newspaper to use its readers’ letters to pursue consumer rights from the early 1990s. Later developed into first, and only dedicated, Readers Desk in June 2006
First newspaper group to launch a community tabloid in the region – Xpress. March 2007
First newspaper to use the modern ‘Berliner’ size, making all rivals look old fashioned and clunky. June 2012
The first with a tabloid leisure section, a family weekly magazine and a children’s weekly magazine
The first separate pages of “news from home” for various expatriate nationalities
The first with a tabloid classifieds section
The first with a comprehensive business and sports section
The first with heat-set colour printing with glazed paper (from 1986)
The first with computerised page make-up (1988)
The first to use recycled newsprint
Innovative firsts
Innovation has been the hallmark of Gulf News. It's the first paper to go all colour, launch a website and introduce the Berliner format. Find out more about the paper's innovative firsts.