Sunday, March 29th, 2009
Dubai’s media gold rush is over
by Warren
Time was that Dubai was a new hope for journalists getting laid off left and right here in North America and Europe. There was money everywhere, new publications founded at a rapid pace and big names like David Frost going to Al Jazeera and Martin Newland of the Telegraph and Canada’s own National Post moving to Abu Dhabi’s The National.
Well, the credit crunch put an end to all that. A lot of the ads running in UAE newspapers were for skyrocketing property, which has plummeted in the last few months, dragging the papers down with them.
So what’s ext for Dubai? Well, I wouldn’t write it off just yet. It’s already established itself as a beacon of development in the Middle East, and just as surely as the current crop of expats is jumping ship, once things pick up a new batch will be back to pursue opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have. Though I doubt Dubai will reach the crazy heights of yesteryear…because none of us will.