FOUR months after I moved to Abu Dhabi, the new newspaper that I am helping to launch, called The National, is finally, well, launching.
We moved into our new newsroom last week, which has terrible acoustics because of the low ceilings, and have been raring to go after doing weeks of dummy runs.
The daily paper is going to have 80 pages split into four sections: The main news section, which includes Opinion & Comment, Business, Arts&Life and Sports. I’m the deputy Opinion editor.
With a staff of more than 100 reporters and editors, our paper is going to focus mostly on UAE news and have completely original and exclusive content.
The London-based daily Asharq al-Awsat newspaper interviewed me yesterday about the launch and carried a story about it in their editions today along with a photo of our newsroom.
The launch party tonight at Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi is going to feature short video clips of various National reporters introducing themselves and explaining the different aspects of life in the Emirates that they will be covering.
I'm excited to get one of the first copies. All the best to you guys! :)