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.

Nationalised Salut!

Someone posted a recent comment at Salut! saying that my musings on life in Abu Dhabi had been a factor in his decision not to apply for a job at The National, the newspaper launched in Abu Dhabi in April.

Well, I have certainly mentioned the dreadful problem of where to live, since only a fool or liar wold deny that excessive demand has combined with insufficient supply to produce outrageous rents for such homes that trickle on to the market.

Otherwise, I think I have been mostly positive and sometimes even warm about the place (and not just because it is very positive about itself, and also exceedingly warm).

The same applies to the weekly column - soon to be one of two weekly columns - that I write as part of my work.

You can find all of my contributions to the paper by searching for me by name at The National's website. There are also direct links from a list of columns that appears in the left column of Salut!