Gulf News at 42: The times they are a-changin' and so is the newsroom

News reporting in India can take its toll. The macabre violence of riots, the gory deaths in natural disasters, the gnawing hunger of poverty can eat into the soul until there is little emotion — the only tangible reason to file a story is a conscience. But that can die, too, when a source is shot dead a few metres away, as you walk to the car to go back to work, not looking over your shoulder even once, fearing for your own life. It’s just another day.

But conscience resurrects. Enough for you to know it is time to move on. If human trials and misery don’t move you enough to care and report, then you are not true to the vocation of journalism. Perhaps, a change of scene for two years would heal the mental wounds. It was 1999. Y2K had the century on edge. The day passed quietly.

We have gone from strength to strength — from vibrant print editions until this day to a website and social media channels that deliver content you can trust in a world of fake news. We get it right. In the race to break first, we do not compromise on facts. For us, news has to be credible. Not click bait.

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2020. COVID-19 has the world in its thrall.

Where did 20 years go?

Gulf News. That’s where. Two years did soothe the soul. But it was captured by Dubai and Gulf News. It was a new world that opened up in the year 2000: New cultures, new languages and much more — a culture in a newsroom that is a treasure. That treasure is intangible. It is called trust — from the organisation and colleagues. There is camaraderie and banter, two essential ingredients when during the pressure of news breaks, the strongest can wilt. But not in our newsroom in Gulf News. We have each other’s backs. We watch over each other.

The news business has changed in 20 years. We are in the digital age as we celebrate the 42nd anniversary of Gulf News. We have gone from strength to strength — from vibrant print editions until this day to a website and social media channels that deliver content you can trust in a world of fake news. We get it right. In the race to break first, we do not compromise on facts. For us, news has to be credible. Not click bait. We keep your trust 24 hours, seven days a week. We care for the community we live and work in.

For us trust is the key — be it in the newsroom or the community. But you may ask, 20 years? It’s inexplicable, the sense of belonging. It is an emotional connect. Gulf News is home.

Readers are the reason we exist

Transparent, ethical, accountable journalism is the only path to them

By Anupa Kurian-Murshed, Senior Digital Content Planning Editor

My story holds true with so many expats I have met over the course of my stay in the UAE. A background score that resonates across generations. I expected to be gone in 3 years.

Well, a quarter of a century has passed, and I’m still here — 22 of those years have been in Gulf News.

For perspective - Google was born after I became a journalist and started my career with the largest independent English daily in the UAE.

Gulf News has taught me, irrevocably, that readers are the reason we exist and transparent, ethical, accountable journalism is the only path to them. I had no major formal training in mass communication. I arrived with a degree steeped in New Age science, so I learnt everything that matters in my field, in Gulf News – in its newsroom.

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I came wanting to “make a difference” and Gulf News gave me the opportunity and space to achieve that. From daily beat reporting to launching the higher education news product targeting colleges and universities called Notes, to setting up the Readers Desk and driving community journalism, launching the tablet edition, creating the Social Media Team and reader-driven digital sections for gulfnews.com — my journey in the newsroom reflects the incredible evolution that is Gulf News as a media house. We have never had any other benchmark but ourselves and our drive for excellence. And 42 years of transformation is evidence of that core philosophy.

Gulf News has taught me, irrevocably, that readers are the reason we exist and transparent, ethical, accountable journalism is the only path to them. I had no major formal training in mass communication. I arrived with a degree steeped in New Age science, so I learnt everything that matters in my field, in Gulf News – in its newsroom.

In a sense it is my alma mater, its people my inspiration. We wear our hearts on our sleeve, we will fight the hardest for our readers, we will push for those who believe in us and are part of our daily news journey, because we treasure those most — an ethos that has stayed consistent for Gulf News’s 42 years and will be for generations to come.

Gulf News at 42: A memorable journey from print to digital

Celebrating the changing phase of digital journalism

By Biju Mathew, Online Editor

Year 2008, the world economy was on a downswing, journalists around the world were digging into the cause of investment bank Lehman Brothers’ fall, but in a quiet corner in Dubai, my digital journey with Gulf News was on the upswing.

The strict evening deadlines of print edition changed to deadlines now. The one-hour editing window of print soon shrank, and along came the mantra: "You have 5 minutes to publish". And, my complete transformation from print to online journalism began.

To check, verify and publish breaking news and government announcements became a rewarding, but taxing task. Reader habits and interests started to dictate story selection and presentation. Feedback was instantaneous. Tools to measure how, where, when and what news are being consumed, made article selection both easy and difficult. For, finding the right balance of popular and important stories come with experience and help from team mates, which no data analytics tool can provide.

Time passed, and print-to-web became web-first. News consumption patterns changed. Print readership around the world dwindled. Online readers zoomed. Digital world took hold in this whole new world, from banking, entertainment, shopping to disseminating information. Gulf News paved the way for me into this changing journalistic platform.

When readers are your priority and credibility the benchmark, the task becomes even more demanding. The adrenalin rush in publishing verified news first and retaining reader loyalty is the biggest reward.

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Time present: world recovered from one of the worst financial crises since the Great Depression, conflicts, deaths and chaos came and went. Then, in the beginning of 2020, came COVID-19 with death, sickness and fear to shatter the way human beings lived. Right information became a casualty at times. Reporting verified news and quashing fake news appearing on social media platforms and namesake websites became a challenge. When readers are your priority and credibility the benchmark, the task becomes even more demanding. The adrenalin rush in publishing verified news first and retaining reader loyalty is the biggest reward.

Change is the most important and only constant in this new-age news platform. Improvise and adapt or be left out and be forgotten. What’s next is a nagging question. But predictability probably would take out the thrill of it all. When Gulf News turns 42, among the many before and after me, I, too, cherish this unforgettable journey.

Gulf News…more mature, discerning at 42

It’s a reminder that we’re another year older in the business

By Gautam Bhattacharyya, Senior Associate Editor

I still remember the newsroom turning into a sea of orange when the Gulf News turned 30…and suddenly more than a decade has actually gone by us. The balloons, complimentary T-shirts ushered in a festive atmosphere as the newspaper reached a milestone in time.

Well, 42 may not be exactly a landmark like the way a 25 or 50 years of existence is, but reminds us that we are another year older in the business. The middle age has just begun…and it’s time to be more mature and discerning.

When I landed up in Dubai in late 2003, I had never given myself a decade and-a-half in the same company in the “Gulf”. I had told my dad, whom I unfortunately lost within six months of coming here, that I would do “one visa term” (three years those days) and be back.

It was only later I found out that I was not alone in this — for several of my colleagues had promised their folks the same – only to conveniently break it later. Working with the Gulf News brand was, and still is, a ticket to respectability in the bank or your daughter’s school — not to speak of the respect one commanded among the local ‘contacts.’

The nature of my job in the Sports desk meant an affair with late nights – which has now become my second nature. The UAE being a major sporting hub in the Middle East, we would define the year with major local sporting events — from tennis to golf to the biggest of them all — Dubai World Cup horseracing.

Then there were the biggies — the football and cricket World Cups, Summer Olympics – which needed serious planning, execution and of course keeping tab of what the rivals did. As we moved on, we have strived to be a truly digital newsroom over these trying months of Coronavirus — and have realised how relentless and demanding this business can be.

We are, of course, ready for the challenge!

Front seat of history: When major events unfolded in front of me

By Shyam A. Krishna, Senior Associate Editor

Gulf News was the third stop in my journey through journalism. By the looks of it, this would be the last. And it was the longest; 20 years and still counting. It has been an amazing ride in the newsroom; there's never a dull moment.

I never intended to stay so long. It’s just that I found a comfort zone, a place where I enjoyed what I was doing. And I loved the fact the bosses trusted me. They trusted me to produce the paper for nearly two decades, and some of them during turbulent times.

For a sportsperson who became a journalist to pursue the passion for sport, I changed lanes after around 10 years. But by the time I joined Gulf News, I was fully involved in newspaper production — editing copies and designing pages.

I took delight in producing the Nation pages every day, and the Front Page on weekends. Later, when Front Page production became my daily responsibility along with the Senior Night Editor, we were in the front row when news broke anywhere in the world. Sometimes it was a mad scramble, yet in the end, it all seems well worth it. The joy of seeing the paper the next day is unbeatable.

Those days in the newsroom were the most satisfying ones of my career. When Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan died, we produced some superb pages. The Lebanon-Israel war was horrific, and our pages brought out that horror. My personal favourite is a page that reflected the protests in Egypt before the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.

I was always on duty when most major events occurred. That’s a joke in the office. But to me, those were memorable days. Extraordinary days, as some of these events reshaped the world. The Iraq War, the Lebanon-Israel War, the Asian tsunami, Mubarak’s exit, when Saddam Hussain was hanged, the deaths of Michael Jackson, Mandela and Steve Jobs. There are many more.

The move to The Views opened new vistas. The best in commentaries were available to me. Some of the Opeds shaped my views as well. Now I am enjoying life as a senior journalist in Gulf News. The online platform has given me a new direction. I have resumed writing. And I love it

‘Are you sure you work for Gulf News?’

By Alex Abraham, Senior Associate Editor

Very early in my career, I realised two important things about working for Gulf News. A couple of years after I joined the company, a relative told me that he had been a regular contributor to the newspaper. “Have you been noticing my name in the paper?” he asked.

When I said “no”, he said he had been writing letters to the editor and had also been putting ads in the classifieds section. I was not in the habit of reading all the letters to the editor and glanced through the classifieds section only when I wanted to sell something.

On seeing my quizzical look, he asked: “Are you sure you work for Gulf News?” That was when I realised that working for Gulf News meant not only keeping abreast of what is happening around the world, but also about what goes into the paper – in every section – including Classifieds.

The other thing I noticed was that every time I met friends outside office, the conversation would veer around to events taking place across the world. And then I, as a journalist, would be asked to give my opinion. I was expected to have an opinion about every topic under the sun. That was difficult. I have always preferred keeping my opinions to myself, except when I have strong views about a subject. However, to my friends, being a journalist in Gulf News meant that I had inside information about news events and that I had to express my opinion.

I have had the privilege of seeing the best of times of the print edition, taking baby steps online and now being a market leader in the digital storytelling field.

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I have had the privilege of seeing the best of times of the print edition, taking baby steps online and now being a market leader in the digital storytelling field. When I joined Gulf News more than two decades ago, it was a predominantly print enterprise. With late deadlines and news trickling in slowly, we could pace ourselves.

Since then, it’s been a quantum jump for every one of us working at Gulf News. From thinking about how people read the newspaper to giving the audience the latest in breaking news and updates as they take place, has meant that we too keep changing and learning about how news functions.

Through it all, the experience of working with some of the best journalists in the field has been a learning exercise every day. Through the stress of daily deadlines and the joy of seeing one’s byline, the years have gone by fast. Working with a brand that is instantly recognisable has brought me immense joy and satisfaction over the years. At 42, there's much to look forward to for Gulf News.

A sense of continuity and belonging

By Omar Shariff, International Editor

The seed was planted in my head at a book store in Riyadh in October 2003, when I picked up a copy of Gulf News for the first time. I had been out of college just a year or two, and was at that time working in an English language newspaper in Saudi Arabia as a staff writer. Returning home that day, I logged on and applied for a job at Gulf News, not expecting a response.

In less than 24 hours, there was an email from Mr Lavkesh Grover, an HR official who is still in Gulf News. “Can you come down to Dubai next week for an interview?”

Long story short, two months later, I was on the Opinion desk of Gulf News as a sub editor. Seventeen years on, I am still here, working as the International Editor (I did join a defence and foreign policy think-tank for a couple of years before returning to Gulf News in 2017). In all these years, I have moved between the Opinion, International and Middle East desks in various positions.

Over the years, I have felt that the three most striking features of a job at Gulf News are variety, continuity and a sense of belonging.

I arrived in Gulf News to a United Nations of nationalities — apart from the usual assortment of Indians, Pakistanis, Britons, Filipinos, South Africans, Egyptians and Lebanese, there were people from places as far flung as Peru, Austria, Mexico and Brazil.

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I arrived in Gulf News to a United Nations of nationalities — apart from the usual assortment of Indians, Pakistanis, Britons, Filipinos, South Africans, Egyptians and Lebanese, there were people from places as far flung as Peru, Austria, Mexico and Brazil. I was not used to this in Riyadh, and remember thinking at that time that this was all quite exotic.

The company also engenders a sense of continuity, with remarkably low attrition rates. To this day, there are people who have been in Gulf News longer than I have been on Earth!

Those of us who have stayed at Gulf News for a while feel both indebted to and responsible for the organisation. As we celebrate our 42nd anniversary, I can only look back with fondness on the years spent here.

The legacy of Gulf News continues

In a relatively short span of time we became the UAE’s online source of choice

By Sadiq Shaban, Opinion Editor

I was a journalist for 10 years when I first walked into the Gulf News office in 2015. With a reputation of being the country’s pre-eminent English daily, landing a job here was nothing short of a personal achievement. As someone familiar with the din of newspaper offices — from India to the UAE — I found both the newsroom and the ethos of Gulf News refreshing.

Everyone sat within shouting distance. Notwithstanding the high stress of meeting the evening deadline — day after day after day — amid ringing phones, clattering computer keys, and colleagues hollering over their shoulders, I noticed people laughed a lot. Some of my work mates have clocked more than two decades in Gulf News, which makes me constantly aware of my responsibility.

Be it foreign, national or local news, space devoted to sports, the arts, features, business or the best opinion from across the world, our coverage of key issues never wavers. Authenticity remains the catchword. The breadth of intellectual vigour at Gulf News is outstanding.

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As if on cue, everyone in the newsroom bands together to produce the next day’s edition. It is especially so when a major event unfolds — from Trump’s surprise win in 2016 to Hazzaa Al Mansoori’s foray into space in 2019. Be it foreign, national or local news, space devoted to sports, the arts, features, business or the best opinion from across the world, our coverage of key issues never wavers. Authenticity remains the catchword. The breadth of intellectual vigour at Gulf News is outstanding.

I was around to see the paper’s seamless transition into a digital newsroom, where we grew — in a relatively short span of time — to become the online paper of choice in the UAE and beyond. Five years of newsroom rush, more than six months of a deadly pandemic, and a world outside literally transformed in a million different ways, things have undergone a huge change. But one thing hasn’t changed — even as we gingerly walked back to our good old newsroom after months of remote working: our quest to get the news out as quickly as possible. We still laugh with merry abandon. The legacy of Gulf News continues.

Gulf News at 42: Landscape to mindscape, an enduring bond

Sanjib Kumar Das, Assistant Editor

The nip in the breeze was unmistakeable as the white Ford Fiesta pulled up just outside Gate No 6 at the awe-inspiring edifice — the Gulf News headquarters off Shaikh Zayed Road — on a quaint November morning, way back in 2003. I had been flown in, all the way from the eastern Indian city of Kolkata, for an interview and trials for the position of a Sub-Editor on the Sports Desk at one of the most venerated media organisations in the Gulf and Middle East.

There were butterflies in my stomach as I cleared the physical and biometric security barriers to be first ushered into the Human Resources department on the ground floor, before being shown into the mammoth Newsroom on the first floor.

God, what a lovely place Dubai is and what an office Gulf News has. But what if I don’t make the cut?

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I knew I had only come for trials, which could go either way, but at the end of three days of a fairly rigorous exercise, when I was collecting my boarding pass at Dubai International for my Royal Brunei flight back home, there was just that tinge of sadness at one corner of my heart as I told myself: ‘God, what a lovely place Dubai is and what an office Gulf News has. But what if I don’t make the cut?’

And just as the Boeing 737 was taxiing its way towards the main runway for its climb to the skies, I knew that a new love affair had already taken off, widening my mindscape, way beyond those neon lights and the awesome skyscrapers on Shaikh Zayed Road: My love affair with Gulf News and Dubai.

About four months later, when I finally came to take up the job offer, it was nothing less than a dream-come-true, for Gulf News had reposed its trust in me and let me have my first overseas assignment.

In 2008, when we celebrated the 30th anniversary of Gulf News, all of us employees were very lovingly handed two T-shirts in the brand colours of the organisation. Those orange T-shirts and the orange balloons hung all over the office premises that day were not orange really – they had all the seven colours of the rainbow in them: The trials and tribulations, the joy and the sorrow, the agony and ecstasy, the days and the nights of an organisation that had for many of us ceased to be just a source of bread and butter and metamorphosed into an extended family of sorts.

Today as we stand on the cusp of the 42nd anniversary of Gulf News, as an employee who has given the best part of the last 16 years of his life to this brand, I feel proud and my eyes are moist – never knew that this city and this office would give me so much as a professional, enrich me so much emotionally as a human being.

The majestic Burj Khalifa has literally risen before my eyes, the vast green patch of Safa Park has allowed the glistening waters of the Dubai Canal to gently pass by, the Broadsheet Gulf News has made way for the leaner Berliner and Brand Gulf News has seen gulfnews.com emerge as its smartest arm.

And through all this, I have had an enduring bond with an organisation get richer, stronger and rise even higher: Stretching my mindscape way beyond the landscape of this awesome land.

Gulf News at 42: When the wide-eyed trainee got a reality check

13 years of learning and unlearning with one essential purpose — to be of value to read

By Huda Tabrez, Senior News Editor

I pretty much stepped out of university and walked into the Gulf News newsroom as a wide-eyed trainee. Almost 13 years later, I look back at the person who walked into the newsroom, and the newsroom itself, and on the surface not much seems to have changed. But pay slightly more attention, and you’ll notice some big changes.

I am no longer the excitable trainee ‘bouncing off the walls’ as a team member initially noted. The rose-tinted glasses have also been well and truly removed by editor and mentor. The last feedback I received from a colleague pleasantly surprised me — she noted “how organised” I was. I will be honest, it took me aback. “You’ve come a long way,” my editor responded with a smile.

Glance around the newsroom, and quite like me, basic appearances haven’t changed much – the layout of desks, many faces, the colour scheme of the walls are still familiar. But look deeper and you see a massive shift – our digital presence has become bigger than ever, with so much more content being produced by every section within the newsroom. And it continues to grow.

This evolution of the newsroom and its members has been one I feel deeply connected to. Over the years, I have had the chance to work under editors who aren’t just hard taskmasters, they are also there to back you up.

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This evolution of the newsroom and its members has been one I feel deeply connected to. Over the years, I have had the chance to work under editors who aren’t just hard taskmasters, they are also there to back you up. So, you are pushed to deliver but are always part of a tightly knit team. So, I’ll admit, as a fresh graduate, I lucked out. I walked into the newsroom back in November 2007, ready to work hard but blissfully unaware how much I had to learn. The learning continues. However, even today, just like Day 1 at Gulf News, the basic philosophy of creating content remains the same — to be of value to our readers.

An interview invite from Gulf News

Nothing could have prepared me for the 6 months of job hunting

By Dona Cherian, Assistant Online Editor

Dubai: From when I was a kid, I have been enamored by the world of words. However, in a middle-class Indian family, “writing” doesn’t really instill confidence in the family as a lucrative career option. So, I shifted paths and first went into commerce and then, branding. Nothing, however, could have prepared me for the months I spent in the country trying to find a job I loved. Six gruelling months later, I got an email — an interview invite at Gulf News.

Fast forward five years, and every day is as exciting as that first one. Having started with UAE guides, news and lifestyle to becoming a home page editor, how much I have learnt since I joined is priceless, immeasurable.

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As I stepped into the newsroom at Gulf News, I realised this is what I wanted. The constantly ringing phones, the brainstorming, the sound of typing on a 100 keyboards and the knowledge that your words had a bigger purpose. From the first day I saw that one thing was the sole focus at Gulf News - credibility. I was also in awe of the kind of reader engagement the paper had, and continues to have.

It wasn’t easy — having been literally thrown in to the mix with no experience that could compare. Starting from scratch is what made me excited for work. And it has paid off because Gulf News is the kind of place where your hard work is seen and appreciated. 

Fast forward five years, and every day is as exciting as that first one. Having started with UAE guides, news and lifestyle to becoming a home page editor, how much I have learnt since I joined is priceless, immeasurable. I can honestly say that I have come into myself as a writer, an editor and there is so much to learn every single day. Forty-two years later, Gulf News continues to inspire, inform and educate and I am glad that I am now playing a part in Gulf News’s legacy.

How I landed my Gulf News job

After a 14-year affinity, it’s now hard to shake off, and I have no plans of doing that

By Cesar Valondo, Editorial Staff

Dubai: It’s been exactly 14 years, five months and 13 days today (September 30, 2020) since I officially joined Gulf News. The dream job was elusive, as I had spent six months getting one. Kish Island became my “vacation spot” every two months, for visa-change runs. In between, I did part time jobs. This somehow helped make both ends meet. And whenever we fell short, friends helped out, especially for my Kish airfare. It’s a blessing to have friends like that.

After months of a near-hopeless job hunt, I almost reached the end of my rope. I had seriously contemplated going back home. Then my phone rang. I was filled with excitement. I saw the caller … my wife! I was like: “I’m so busted” (I was on my way to a friend’s place who had invited me for a meet-and-greet before I go back to the Philippines, after what I thought was a failed job hunt in Dubai). I can’t really ignore my wife’s call.

“Where are you?” were her opening remarks. She sounded very tense. It all made sense, as I learnt that Gulf News was trying to contact me for a job interview. How my wife received the call may be a bit of a fluke. It’s my brother in law in the Philippines who made the overseas call to my wife to notify me of the job interview.

As fate would have it, my wife was on a break from her work when my brother-in-law rang her up. It was only then that she saw numerous missed calls from a Gulf News landline number. If you wonder why my wife was the one who received calls meant for me, well, we shared the same number when I joined her in Dubai (she came one month ahead of me). For us, every dirham counted. So instead of buying a new SIM card, I used her number on my resume.

It turned out that Nilanjana Javed, the Gulf News HR Officer then, had placed an overseas call to the Philippines (our home landline) as she couldn’t reach my wife on her mobile phone. It was my 5-year-old daughter who picked up the call. I was told that Ms Javed spent time and had a little chit-chat with her. She then passed it on to my mother-in-law, who told my brother-in-law, who told my wife.

I was looking for work when I came to the UAE, for the proverbial greener pasture. But what I found is a home away from home.

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The job could have slipped away — if my daughter didn’t pick the phone, or if Nilanjana lost patience in trying to reach me. I was given until 5pm that the same day to show-up for the job interview — or the job will be is gone forever. It was 4pm when I received my wife’s call, I was halfway to meet a friend. Long story short, it all seemed that everything worked together. I made it just in time and I was hired. It was a big relief. It came at a time when I was mentally set to go back home and re-join to my previous company.

Gulf News, without a doubt, has been life-changing for me. It’s been a source of so much blessing for me and my family. During my stint with the organisation, I had helped my brother complete his BS Nursing degree. Two of our daughters are now in college — Allecsz, 19, who is taking up Accountancy (who picked up Nilanjana’s call years ago) and Yrecsz Karylle, 18, who is taking up Architecture. Our third daughter, Layelle, 11, is in high school. We have a two-year-old son. Gulf News has been my life.

I was looking for work when I came to the UAE, for the proverbial greener pasture. But what I found is a home away from home.

I will forever be grateful to Gulf News and to all the people I have worked and working with. Gulf News is a force to reckon with, then and now. And I’m proud to be a part of it more than ever. From being the strongest print media to becoming the strongest digital news media in the region, change is inevitable, and Gulf News has always risen above the challenge, and stood its ground without compromising its very backbone: relevant, community-led, hyperlocal, reader-driven, strong journalism.

Looking back, I couldn’t ask for more. Through the years, I never imagined myself working for another company. I haven’t updated my resume. It’s this kind of affinity that’s hard to shake off. I have no plans of doing that, and it will stay with me long after I’ve left this venerable institution that had turned 42.

Raising the bar for investigative journalism

By Mazhar Farooqui, Senior Features Editor

People are at the heart of everything I have been doing as an investigative journalist at Gulf News for the past 15 years. Looking back I can say proudly we have not only laid the ground for cutting–edge reporting in this region, but also raised the bars for investigative journalism. My reports have rubbed so many people the wrong way I have lost count.

More than 200 people have been jailed (some are still behind bars) or facing investigations because of them. Job scammers, forex fraudsters, evil geniuses who disguise Ponzi schemes as legitimate investment plans, the dead man who returned to life to dupe traders, the thug who ran a bogus airline, the ‘IT firm’ which sold thousands of fake degrees globally, the self-styled serial entrepreneur who defrauded hundreds worldwide, the woman who faked awards to gain trust of investors, the dodgy developer who floated a multi-million project that’s still not approved, the masterminds behind recurring trading scams, globe-trotting fraudster Gill Wallace Hope, serial swindler Russell King, or the men we smoked out in a sting operation after they sold an ISO certificate to our non-existent company for Dh4,000.

As a multicultural newspaper that UAE residents could call their own, we monitor the pulse of the nation and report on issues that impact people directly. My reports have reunited families including several mums with their kids whom they had lost hope of ever seeing again and brought people from the brink of despair.

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It’s a very long list.

Last month, we uncovered a sexual predator who posed as the CEO of a private jet charter and put up job advertisements seeking applications from flight attendants. Women who responded were called to hotel rooms on the pretext of job interviews where they were drugged and molested. The man is now where he belongs – in jail.

It isn’t just about scam-busting.

As a multicultural newspaper that UAE residents could call their own, we monitor the pulse of the nation and report on issues that impact people directly. My reports have reunited families including several mums with their kids whom they had lost hope of ever seeing again and brought people from the brink of despair.

Whether it’s a patient struggling to pay unpaid hospital bills, a tenant facing an issue with services or someone seeking help, of late I have become the go-to man for just about anybody with a problem. People seek me out in the hope that their concerns would get addressed. And in most cases they are.

And that’s what makes working at Gulf News so truly special.

Our brand of uncompromising journalism have won us several top awards. But the accolades don’t come easy. I am saddled with lawsuits and get threatening calls from computer-generated numbers every few days. I have been implicated in a string of bogus cases and have even spent a night in a police cell. Recently I was the subject of a malicious online campaign.

Does all of this get to me? At times, yes. Does it waver my resolve? Hell, no!

An emotional ride all the way

By A.K.S. Satish, Assistant Editor

When I boarded the flight on November 12, 2000, I was filled with trepidation as it was the first time that I am going to live outside my home city Chennai in my entire life.

For the first few days, I was filled with anxiety as it is a new place, new environment new set up and new friends. But slowly the love for Dubai and UAE started to grow in me just like my family – from two to three and then to four.

Suddenly the growth accelerated and transformed into gigantic proportions as I have witnessed some marvels of the world come in front of my eyes, first the Palm Jumeirah and then Burj Khalifa, the area being a barren land as I would pass through it every day.

Suddenly the growth accelerated and transformed into gigantic proportions as I have witnessed some marvels of the world come in front of my eyes, first the Palm Jumeirah and then Burj Khalifa, the area being a barren land as I would pass through it every day.

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Along with it Gulf News made rapid strides in the broadsheet format before changing into a Berliner. Professionally, I was involved in a number of projects and when the Editor-in-Chief inducted me into the redesigning of the Gulf News in 2003 and informed us that we’re not supposed to share the details even with our spouses, I followed to the tee — my wife still holds that grouse against me — and being part of the implementation team of the new operating systems. These projects helped me to handle pressure better.

I still remember my first interview with the squash legend Jansher Khan at Etisalat Academy and little did I realise then that it is only the beginning of meeting legends, greats and stars with such ease as I am in Dubai and working at Gulf News — Zaheer Khan, Glenn McGrath, Mike Gatting, Ravichandran Ashwin and singer S.P. Balasubrahmanyam — to name a few.

I get a little melancholic when during my 20-year stay many friends alighted from the Gulf News groovy train, and I am sure one day I will have to get down at my stop. At this point I am reminded of the immortal words of Alfred Lord Tennyson in The Brook: “For men may come and men may go, but I will go on for ever.” Similarly, Gulf News should go on for ever. I savour every moment of this wonderful journey as long as it lasts and no words is enough to thank Dubai and the UAE for giving me a great life.

Three lessons I have learnt at Gulf News

Technology has transformed news, but there are certain constants: Life, change, disruption

By Richard Chimbiri, Pages Editor

It has been 11 years since I left a job that paid 2 trillion to start life outside my country of birth. Admittedly, that salary was in Zimbabwe dollars, during the days of hyperinflation, and had to be supplemented by a US dollar component by the time I left. After stints in two other countries, I have worked as a journalist at Gulf News for eight of those 11 years.

Below are three lessons I have learnt during my time in the UAE:

Value people

The Covid-19 pandemic has taught us all the value of life. In a different way, the multinational, multicultural environment at Gulf News has provided me with lessons about people no journalism class could have ever taught. Among staff, every continent is represented. Colleagues from various countries and backgrounds bring into the newsroom a wonderful mix of experiences. This has greatly enhanced my understanding of the world, and I believe that translates into a richer product for readers as well.

Technology has transformed journalism. From the way stories are written, to the manner in which content is presented in print and online, the tech disruption has rocked the proverbial boat in thousands of ways.

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Embrace change, fast

A Blackberry. That is the phone I had in my hand when I arrived at Dubai International Airport in 2012. Today, some teenagers will tell you they don’t know what that is. Similarly, technology has transformed journalism. From the way stories are written, to the manner in which content is presented in print and online, the tech disruption has rocked the proverbial boat in thousands of ways. But at Gulf News, I have learnt to embrace change, fast.

Keep growing

During my time at Gulf News, I have seen the company introduce new titles in print and online, as well as new-look websites and other offerings. This has been a reminder for me to keep seeking growth and new ways to offer value to the world, no matter the challenges.

A nerd’s dream come true

Shyama Krishna Kumar, Pages Editor

Being a second-generation journalist — and a second-generation Gulf News staffer – my journey with GN began pretty early but it mostly tended to feel like a hand-me-down relationship. (My father worked for three decades at various desks within the organisation.) However, having now worked here for five years, pushing copy and writing my own fair share, I’ve finally learnt to make it mine. And while I imagine no one gets into print media dreaming of an easy life, there’s a thrill to making the last stand as the world inevitably embraces (or has embraced) digital.

And while I imagine no one gets into print media dreaming of an easy life, there’s a thrill to making the last stand as the world inevitably embraces (or has embraced) digital.

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Philosophising aside, writing and editing for GN tabloid has on many occasions given wings to some of my nerdier dreams. How else do you explain a podcast that was born and died a silent death for the express reason of ranting and raving about the final season of Game of Thrones? Or the fact that two years prior to that I was sat across the very same ‘GoT’s’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), having the loveliest chat about a beloved show?

From writing a weekly column (about podcasts, are we seeing a theme here?) and covering Comic-Con every year to waxing lyrical about superheroes and space ninjas week in and week out, I’ve injected a little bit of the things that make me happy and sane into this space and hopefully it’s brought some positivity and sunshine to at least some of you.

The road ahead is not always clear but I like to honestly believe we’re making the most of it in every way we can. Happy reading!

(With Jay Hilotin, Senior Assistant Editor; Nathaniel Lacsina, Senior Web Editor)