Abu Dhabi's new rag

Now as any journalist who has ever worked in the Gulf will know, it’s hardly a bastion of good newspapers. Sure, you have the safe giant, that is Gulf News, and the surprisingly well-liked Khaleej Times (the reason for this is beyond my limited intellect), but on the whole it’s as close to a Fourth Estate Wasteland as you can get.

Now get this. The UAE capital, Abu Dhabi is all set to launch its national newspaper in the first quarter of 2008. And it’s not just any paper, let me give you a sample of the roll call:

• Editor, Martin Newland (former editor of The Daily Telegraph) as editor

• Sue Ryan (former managing editor, The Daily Telegraph), as editorial consultant

• Hamida Ghafour (author of the Sleeping Budda) as news reporter

• Jonathan Shainin (former editor of New Yorker), as Review editor.

• Hassan Fattah (former Middle East correspondent of the New York Times) as deputy editor.

• Colin Randall (former Daily Telegraph news editor and Paris correspondent) as the project's executive news editor.

• Bill Spindle (former Wall Street Journal corporate finance editor) as business editor.

• Bob Cowan (former Sunday Telegraph comment editor) as — and this is priceless — comment editor

• James Langton (former Sunday Telegraph) as news features editor.

• Alan Philps (former Daily Telegraph foreign editor) as associate editor

• Anna Seaman (writer on the Daily Mail's Femail section) as writer.

Now this is a formidable list indeed, some of these are pretty decent journalists, which forces me to ask...why on earth are they all heading to Abu Dhabi? The little voice in my head, immediately slaps my cerebellum and says..."It’s the money you idiot!”

Well, if that’s the sole reason then so be it, because the fact that the government’s sponsoring the project means the newspaper will have deep pockets indeed. But what of the freedom of the Press? To be sure, Mr Newland in all his experience and wisdom realises that he will have to toe a rather fine line. His comment page will be closely monitored and the newspaper’s policy will be, in effect, that of the government’s.

If Mr Newland knows this, then has he informed his journalists? There are two scenarios for the new Abu Dhabi newspaper in 2008.

One is that Mr Newland and his staff come into the paper with their eyes open and their hands on their bulging wallets, and toss ethics and freedom out the window (this is a good scenario for the paper, commercially at least. And one the proprietors will be hoping for).

Second is that the staff of the daily are caught unawares by the proprietorial interference and flee en masse, within six months of the paper’s launch (this is by far the most realistic scenarios). This will prompt the owners to staff the paper with a hundred journalists from Kerala, India who will work for a tenth of the salary paid to Mr Newland’s staff and never rock the proverbial boat.

I see Abu Dhabi’s newspaper closely resembling all the other Middle East titles (in staffing and content) before 2008 is out.

Needless to say Dubai and Bahrain’s journalists will probably be having the most cynical, and probably the heartiest, last laugh.