The Peninsula today ditched its Oasis tabloid section. I'd been compiling the technology pages on Tuesdays, and another two or three days a week it was compiled by a Peninsula employee who has now left.
The TV pages have shrunk from a four-page insert to one page. I had been supplying the paper with free TV schedules, but decided last week that I needed to place the arrangement on a commercial footing. I asked them for 3500QR/month and they didn't respond, so I turned off the supply.
It's a shame that no newspaper now carries accurate and detailed TV schedules, but I wasn't prepared to do favours for The Peninsula after their recent baffling decisions.
The Sport section has been cut from eight pages to six, and the main news section has lost four pages.
The Peninsula has lost its News Editor and its Managing Editor. Dar Al Sharq, the parent company, is purging its staff, and worryingly the layoffs seem to be targeted at Egyptians.
It's easy to create a conspiracy theory around the destruction of a newspaper that had seen 20% growth in readership over the past year, but sadly there is no intelligence at work. The new regime at The Peninsula is killing the paper by incompetent vandalism rather than malice, and that makes it a rather sad time for Qatar's media.
I wish the Gulf Times the best of luck for their relaunch tomorrow. It's unfortunate that none of the three English-language newspapers is now edited by a native English speaker. Hiring decent staff into those top positions will become increasingly difficult as potential candidates see how their predecessors have been treated.
Launching a newspaper in QF wouldn't improve anything. There are three English-language newspapers that are failing editorially. Why would a fourth newspaper be any different?
The Peninsula today ditched its Oasis tabloid section. I'd been compiling the technology pages on Tuesdays, and another two or three days a week it was compiled by a Peninsula employee who has now left.
The TV pages have shrunk from a four-page insert to one page. I had been supplying the paper with free TV schedules, but decided last week that I needed to place the arrangement on a commercial footing. I asked them for 3500QR/month and they didn't respond, so I turned off the supply.
It's a shame that no newspaper now carries accurate and detailed TV schedules, but I wasn't prepared to do favours for The Peninsula after their recent baffling decisions.
The Sport section has been cut from eight pages to six, and the main news section has lost four pages.
The Peninsula has lost its News Editor and its Managing Editor. Dar Al Sharq, the parent company, is purging its staff, and worryingly the layoffs seem to be targeted at Egyptians.
It's easy to create a conspiracy theory around the destruction of a newspaper that had seen 20% growth in readership over the past year, but sadly there is no intelligence at work. The new regime at The Peninsula is killing the paper by incompetent vandalism rather than malice, and that makes it a rather sad time for Qatar's media.
I wish the Gulf Times the best of luck for their relaunch tomorrow. It's unfortunate that none of the three English-language newspapers is now edited by a native English speaker. Hiring decent staff into those top positions will become increasingly difficult as potential candidates see how their predecessors have been treated.
Launching a newspaper in QF wouldn't improve anything. There are three English-language newspapers that are failing editorially. Why would a fourth newspaper be any different?