Wednesday, Jan 26, 2011
Gulf News
Rave reviews for paper’s brilliant design that makes it a tempting read
Dubai The survey results have clearly given statistical data that support the market leadership of Gulf News and its supplementary products among non-Arab English publication readers. We spoke to some of them for their reaction to the facts and figures.
Aishwarya Banerjee, a 16-year-old pupil, told the newspaper: “Gulf News is the major newspaper in the UAE. Most people have access to it and many read it. It has a very nice layout and it contains a lot of material. It is quite balanced with a very diverse range. There is no gender bias. I feel there needs to be even more on the youth in the UAE.”
Banerjee said that many young people in the country were doing a lot of work, which might eventually be noticed but there could be more coverage.
Ajayan Mampatta, a 36-year-old working in the finance sector, feels that Gulf News’ top market presence is primarily because it is a “balanced family newspaper”.
He said: “Gulf News looks very reader friendly. There are other newspapers in the market that look very crowded.
“This newspaper is more open in design and covers the kind of news I would like to see — as in news that is factual, accurate and unbiased, not opinionated. Even when there are numbers or percentages, they are presented in an attractive manner.”
Another key reason Mampatta likes the newspaper is that there is no needless exploitation of women through pictures or articles in a bid to be appealing — it is good content and design, he said.
Alma Oville Llena, a 34-year-old working in accounts, agreed.
She said: “I have one word to describe the newspaper and that is ‘tempting’. When you see Gulf News, you are tempted to open it up and read.
Colour sense
“It has good content from the Philippines, which I look through. I also like the Your Turn page covering readers’ issues. I... submitted a picture once and it got published. The newspaper also has a very nice sense of colour — makes for a tempting read.”
Jessica Heid, a 30-year-old who works in the finance sector finds the coverage of content to be diverse and fair.
Analiza King, a 40-year-old who works in the health care sector, added: “Often, you find newspapers to be predominantly masculine but that is not the case with Gulf News. I like the coverage and read it from cover to cover, whenever I have the time.”
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Aishwarya Banerjee
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Ajayan ?Mampatta
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Alma Oville Llena
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Jessica ?Heid
By Anupa Kurian?Readers Editor
Gulf News 2011. All rights reserved.
