A subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation, International Media Investments (IMI) has secured ownership of The National. Previously falling under Abu Dhabi Media (ADM), the daily newspaper title will continue to operate under ADM until arrangements for their transfer to the new premises has concluded.
“I’m delighted to be joining Motivate as Editor of good and am looking forward to working more with the fantastic team here,” says Jennifer. “I’ve lived in Dubai for nearly five years now and have watched the city grow and evolve dramatically during that time, so I’m very excited about getting out there and seeing what’s new, exciting and homegrown in our city.”
Jumeirah magazine, part of Motivate Publishing, has welcomed Tahira Yaqoob to the role of Acting Editor. With over 20 years of experience in journalism across newspapers and magazines in the UK as well as the UAE, including The National and The Daily Mail, Tahira has recently been contributing to editorial content for Motivate’s Luxury and Lifestyle Group of publications. In her new role, she will take full editorial responsibility for the next two issues of Jumeirah, a monthly luxury title circulated to exclusive Jumeirah Group hotel rooms around the world.
Ultratravel magazine, a UAE-based publication focusing on regional and international luxury travel destinations, has launched the Ultimate Luxury Travel Related Awards (The ULTRAs). With 20 categories including: airlines, airports, hotels, travel agencies and services, as well as specialised categories across UAE hospitality and tourism sectors, Ultratravel will determine one winner and four runners-up per category, culminating in the Ultratravel 100 list.
Winners will be announced at the Ultratravel 100 Awards, hosted in the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah on November 25, 2015. They will also be published in the Winter 2015 issue of Ultratravel, available from November 26 and distributed by The National and Aletihad newspapers. Voting for the awards is currently open to the public until October 31, and readers can vote online at www.thenational.ae/ultras.
Shane McGinley, Executive Editor, Arabian Business has been selected as one of 22 global recipients of the Citi Journalistic Excellence Award, 2015. This is the first time journalists from the Middle East have competed for the award, and Shane represented the UAE along with Triska Hamid, a London-based freelancer who contributes to Abu Dhabi-based Newspaper, The National. The Citi Journalistic Excellent Award is sponsored by Citigroup, and judged by a professional jury of experts in finance, economics and business journalism. Each recipient of the award was chosen from hundreds of international journalists, invited to apply and partake in a competition and selection process, with those who were successful being invited to attend the International Journalists Seminar at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York.
“It was an amazing experience to be able to attend the Columbia University campus, even just for 10 days,” says Shane. “With journalists from all over the world, it was great to hear their stories and experiences as well as the different challenges journalists face each day.”
For further information, contact Shane McGinley at shane.mcginley@itp.com / +971 (0)4 444 3631
Lyndsey Steven has been promoted to Associate Editor of the Emirates Woman Group, part of Motivate Publishing. Having joined the company a year ago, Lyndsey most recently held the position of Deputy Editor at Emirates Woman and will now utilise her 16 years of experience in the publishing and broadcasting sector in her new expanded role. Lyndsey has previously contributed to a spectrum of publications in the UAE including La Femme, The Rake, Indulge and The National, and will now be writing, editing and overseeing content for Emirates Woman, Emirates Woman Bride, Emirates Woman Mini and Harvey Nichols – Dubai magazines.
“My year at Motivate has flown by and I am looking forward to many more,” says Lyndsey. “I’ve always been a huge fan of Emirates Woman and it’s been wonderful working with such an accomplished and dedicated team.”
Hadeel Al Sayegh is to step down from her role as Senior Correspondent, Political Economy at The National. Having been with the Abu Dhabi-based daily since 2010, Hadeel has written extensively across the region’s political economy, covering investigative and enterprise topics for the newspaper; she has also appeared on several international TV networks offering a Middle Eastern perspective on the European debt crisis, as well as regular appearances on the BBC to discuss developments in Iraq and Syria. Hadeel has also had her own segment reading business headlines on ‘Inside The National’, a TV show on Abu Dhabi El Emarat, in addition to reading headlines on Abu Dhabi’s Classic FM.
She will now move on to take up the position of Gulf Senior Company News Correspondent on Reuters’ Gulf Finance team, where she will be breaking headline grabbing news on the region’s publicly-listed companies and mergers & acquisitions activity around business assets of regional, local and federal governments.
“After five years covering the Dubai financial crisis, its aftermath and its subsequent boom at Abu Dhabi’s newspaper of record The National, I am excited to start my new journey at Reuters,” says Hadeel. “I look forward to taking my experience and expertise to the next level by expanding my scope of coverage to the Arabian Gulf region.”
Stacie Overton Johnson has been appointed as Food Writer for The National. Stacie brings with her 9 years of freelance experience, having worked previously as a freelance television producer in the USA before relocating to Abu Dhabi in 2013, and prior to this as a full-time producer for 6 years. In her new position, Stacie will contribute several food articles a week about a variety of food-related topics in the UAE, from restaurant openings and major food competitions, to up and coming chefs in the UAE and food reviews.
“I’m having a great time working with the Arts & Life team at The National,” says Stacie. “They’ve all been very welcoming and the energy in the office is great. After freelancing for so long, I’ve found myself excited to get back into a proper office. I prefer newspaper writing to television writing, as it’s far more fulfilling. It’s easier to write a story you’re happy with – you don’t have the time constraints that comes with writing a television news story, and I can’t wait to throw myself into the UAE’s culinary world.”
Ultratravel Middle East has announced it will vastly increase its circulation effective from the Spring issue, available from March 20, 2014. The magazine will treble its print run, with over 174,000 copies to be released in separate Arabic and English editions.
Two major newspapers will carry the bulk of distribution, with 109,000 Arabic copies being delivered with Al Ittihad and 65,000 English copies going out with The National. Additional copies are to be released in high-end golf resorts, spas and hotels.
“The increase in circulation reflects what an exciting market this is,” says Adam Portingale, Associate Publisher, Ultratravel Middle East. “Even if we halved our new circulation, it would still be by far the biggest luxury travel and lifestyle magazine in the region.”
Chris Newbould has been appointed as Film Correspondent for The National’s Arts & Life section, covering regional and international festivals, the Middle Eastern film industry and all the latest Hollywood, Bollywood and international releases. Previously Editor of Digital Studio Middle East, Chris has covered TV, film and music writing in the UK for The Guardian’s City Life and Weekend Guide.
“Having covered the regional film industry for Digital Studio since 2010, I hope to hit the ground running in my new role,” says Chris. “There are big ambitions for film making in the Middle East at the moment, particularly in the UAE. I’m looking forward to building on the relationships I already have, as well as expanding my remit both locally and internationally, for one of the region’s most respected publications.”