THIS IS WHAT TRUST
SOUNDS LIKE

Trust, resilience, and the spirit of the UAE

For more than four decades, Gulf News has stood for one thing above all: trust. It's what carried us from a small newsroom in the UAE to becoming a voice the region relies on, evolving through every shift in how people read, watch and listen to news, information and what's happening in our amazing nation. It is, and always will be, the foundation that everything else is built on.

That evolution hasn't stopped. We've grown from print to digital, from digital to video, podcasts, social and live events. Always moving forward, always investing in what comes next, never losing sight of who we are or what is expected by our readers.

Today, for the first time, Gulf News and all that it stands for has a sound. Getting here took months of conversations, listening sessions and revisions, because a signature like this only earns its place if it truly reflects the brand behind it. Our new sonic identity is a strategic extension of our brand, built to carry trust, innovation and excellence in just a few notes, and designed to adapt naturally across everything we produce, from breaking news, quiet Monday features, podcasts, events and much more.

What excites me most is what this represents for our ongoing development and where we are headed. Media doesn't stand still, and neither have we. Over the years, we've embraced change with agility and innovation, and that won't stop now. As Gulf News continues to evolve and our platforms grow, including ones we haven't even imagined yet, this sound will travel with us, giving audiences one more way to know it's Gulf News the instant they hear it.

This sonic signature is a statement of intent. It tells our readers, our partners and our people that Gulf News is still willing to lead, still willing to innovate, and still, after nearly 50 years, absolutely committed to maintaining and building the trust placed in us.

In parallel with this exciting new chapter, I am pleased to announce that Ahmad Haffar, who we've worked closely with over these past months to develop our sonic signature, will be joining Gulf News as Brand Ambassador. I look forward to working with him and the team as we continue to develop and strengthen Gulf News for our readers, our clients, and our great nation, the UAE.

A voice that never stops evolving

Today we launched a new sound for Gulf News. When you hear it, please recognise it as a mark of excellence and trust in an ever-noisier world. Journalism has always been about listening and then verifying. We listen closely to those with both loud and quiet voices across the globe and then we ensure information is reported honestly and with integrity. Listening allows us to tell the stories that really matter, and our new signature sound allows you to know we've done the checks and balances.

While the newspaper is very dear and important to us, we know that millions of people every month turn to us on our website, our social channels, our app, our podcasts, and our videos. That number keeps growing at an incredible rate. You no longer just turn a page; you scroll a feed, press play on a podcast, watch a video mid-commute. We've had to keep pace with what you expect from us, and we are always adapting to a fast-changing world.

That's why this moment goes beyond sound alone. Alongside our new sonic identity, we've also refreshed our branding and our logo. These are small but deliberate changes designed to make sure everything we produce, across every digital platform, feels unmistakably connected. The sound you're about to hear was built to match that same thinking: not flashy, not forced, just familiar in the way trust always is.

Whether it opens a breaking story, a documentary, or a daily briefing, it carries the same promise our name always has. We don't shout for attention; we just want you to know you're in trusted hands.

This matters to me because none of it is just a branding exercise. It's an extension of the editorial standards we've held ourselves to since 1978, carried into the digital formats you are increasingly living in. As more of our journalism moves into audio and video, this sound — and the refreshed identity behind it — becomes the thread that ties it all together, wherever you may encounter us next.

The man behind the sonic signature

Gulf News, the UAE’s leading English-language media brand, today announced the appointment of Ahmad Haffar, CEO of Mindloop Studios, as its official Brand Ambassador , marking the launch of the publication’s first-ever sonic identity. The signature is designed to make Gulf News instantly recognisable across every platform the brand operates on, from breaking news and video, to podcasts, social media and live events.

With more than a decade of experience crafting sonic identities for some of the world’s leading brands, Haffar was entrusted with translating nearly four decades of Gulf News’ journalistic heritage into sound. The result is built around three core pillars that define the brand: trust, innovation and excellence.

“Most brands want you to feel one specific thing,” said Haffar. “News can’t work that way — a reader might feel hope, anger, grief or relief, sometimes all in the same bulletin. So the sound could never tell them how to feel. All it needed to do was quietly say: this is real, this is Gulf News, you can trust what comes next.”

The signature is built as a flexible ecosystem rather than a single piece of music — one core melody that adapts across formats, from calmer, trust-driven moments to sharper cues for breaking news, while always remaining unmistakably Gulf News.

“We wanted something that would work for us the way our journalism already does,” said Mark Thompson, Editor-in-Chief of Gulf News. “Ahmad didn’t just compose a piece of music; he built an identity that can travel with us wherever our readers are, today and for years to come.”

As Brand Ambassador, Haffar will continue working closely with Gulf News as its digital, video and audio presence grows, ensuring the sound evolves alongside the brand’s journalism.