Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Obama and the Gulf press


This is how three of the daily newspapers in the UAE covered the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

The supplement you see on the left of the montage is the eight-page pullout special from The National. I thought my colleagues did a particularly good job, from preparation of the supplement to their reporting of the day's events. But then I would say that.

All three front pages have merit, though The National and Khaleej Times made the right decisions in terms of selection of photograph and the preference for Obama's own words to fill the main headline.

Wherever you are in the world, and the country-by-country tables in the righthand column show the extent of Salut! Salam's reach, please let me know how your own press covered perhaps the most significant political event so far in this young century.

As for George W Bush, I can say there is no truth in rumours that he may be about to take over from me as the author of The National's weekly column on the use of English. But then I would say that too.