For men

It seems the Dubai men's magazine market is about to explode - GQ and Esquire, anyone? But what's to say new titles - even if international brands - will do better in this market than any previous attempts? Will the ad spend ever be big enough to support new men's glossies?

Adieu Newland?

The Independent on Sunday has claimed that Martin Newland is stepping down as editor of The National.

Just a year after the launch of The National in Abu Dhabi, rumours swirl that Martin Newland is to step down. The former Daily Telegraph editor set up the English-language paper, recruiting several ex-Telegraph hacks to join him.

Colin Randall and Sue Ryan were among those lured by generous tax-free salaries, the full details of which were memorably leaked on to the internet. My mole says Newland will continue to work for the paper but not as editor. I'm told his replacement will need to be pro the Emirates government and royal family, its proprietors. Newland did not return my calls.

Bearing in mind the National moles have all gone very quiet, is there any chance we can get this confirmed? Was Newland pushed, did he jump, or was he just unwilling to toe the party line any more?

Who is this?

Any ideas who or what this man is referring to in this recruitment post?

Looking for Angel/VC investors for media ventures in the Middle East backed by a well known media figure.

I for one cannot wait to find out more - especially what Emirates Leasing, a subsidiary of Dubai Islamic Bank, has got to do with it.

Down the tubes

Is your publication going down the tubes? Budget cuts, non-payments, layoffs, CEO just transferred all the remaining dirhams to his Swiss account, etc?

Here's a thread to spill the beans.

RAK hit and run

From today's Gulf News (extracts below):

An American journalist working for an English daily from Abu Dhabi has run over an Egyptian security guard at the entrance of a university here because the guard denied him access to the campus.

The security guard did not allow entry to the journalist identified as "J." because he did not have an "entrance permission" which is a must for visitors as per the university regulations.

The Egyptian security guard is demanding Dh50,000 in compensation, and the university is demanding to continue with the case against the journalist and his sponsoring organisation.

The sources said that it has been reported that this particular journalist had repeatedly entered the university surreptitiously. He had entered with the university students and without holding any proper permission and this harmed the university's image. The sources said that the journalist had violated the privacy of the university.

Pounds of flesh?

The rumour mill is buzzing that this comment on the esteemed publication popbitch refers to a Dubai/ex-Dubai hack. Certainly, there has been a marked increase in the number of UAE stories being leaked to the site in the last year...

Which newspaper hack is on sick leave thanks to management discovering that he has been fiddling expenses to up to half a million pounds over the last few years? He was so creative he set up friends and family members as fake contributors and paid them for imaginary stories.

The hack offered to pay back most of the cash if management didn't prosecute but is now threatening to spill the beans on all sorts of senior management fiddles if they go ahead.

It poses an interesting question as to the nature of expenses. Most hacks have done it at some time, even if it's claiming for a business lunch with a mate from PR... what policies exist for claiming back expenses in Dubai? Do companies reimburse expenses willingly?

Thank F**k It's Friday brunch

This is hot off the sleaze press from an anon commenter:

No names, no pack drill. A senior (female) salesperson from a certain large Dubai based English language publisher was arrested on the beach on Friday.

She'd been to two brunches, met a tourist, and headed to the beach with him. The first time the police found them in fragante delicto, they were kicked off the beach with a warning. When they went back, she mouthed off at them, apparently with a religious slur, which resulted in her being arrested.

The Arabic boss of her company had to cut short his holiday to get her out 36 hours later.

The trial (if it hasn't already happened) is imminent.

Anyone got any other (suitably anonymous) stories about media folk's brushes with the authorities?

Here at DMO, we remember hazy tales of a female journalist getting Blue with a boyband member, but it was never confirmed.

What's next for What's On?

Motivate is now officially on the market, as Obaid al Tayer apparently doesn't want to buy out Ian Fairservice.

Any ideas what will become of this bastion of Dubai publishing? And what will happen to Ian, the Godfather of Advertorial?

Close encounter - but for who?

Confirmation of what we had hoped was a vicious rumour has come in the form of The Secret, Secret Dubai's newsletter, which arrived in the DMO in-boxes today. The typically veiled snippet referred to a "notorious H.A.C.K" who was in the UAE on a false passport.

Yes pop pickers, could Mr X be back in town? Dubai media veterans may recall his former aliases, which include: ITP journo, 7Days, freelance "PR" consultant, accompanier of ladies of negotiable affection. Oh, and in case we forget, convicted felon.

Mr X has had a couple of stays in a Dubai jail already, for alcohol-abetted auto scrapes and japes. How on earth could he get back in the country, we hear you ask?

Our second source confirms: "He's in town on a false passport and already got picked up by the Jebel Ali cops. They suspected who he was, but couldn't be bothered to pursue it, and let him go."

What next for 7DAYS?

Like all the best Emirates Today exclusives, we're slightly slow off the mark on this one. Unlike Emirates Today, it was because we were checking our facts (and because our 7DAYS moles have gone undercover).

Editor extraordinaire Neil Sawyer is indeed out, as is his predecessor and (apparently) the MD too. Could this spell the end for Dubai's spunkiest paper? Or will Associated Newspapers step in and save the day?

We're just trying to locate a 7DAYS employee from beneath the bottom of a pint glass to confirm details, so if anyone can fill in the gaps, please go ahead.

A load of royal twiddle

The recent Abu Dhabi visit of Prince Charles and his wife Camilla raised uproar in the world's media over some comments HRH supposedly made about the perils of eating McDonald's food. (Needless to say, our sources tell us that he was misquoted, which makes you feel a bit sorry for the supersized firm: it has previously donated substantial sums of money to HRH's charity).

One journalist, although ignoring the furore over Big Macs, still managed to ruffle the Royal feathers. Under a cloak of anonymity to avoid a one-way pass to the Tower of London, he emailed: "I wanted to ask him if he'd seen The Queen yet but didn't have the balls. But I did tell him that he'd failed to twiddle after drinking his coffee. He sarcastically replied: 'I am aware of the twiddle. I have been around for some time, you know.' "

No word on whether Camiknickers twiddled. (Apparently, the twiddle is when you shake the little cup for arabic coffee when you're done - wasn't aware that was the technical term though).

Today's tittle tattle

Blind Item 1: It sounds like the start of a really cracking joke: "ITP boss Robert Serafin, Haymarket's Lord (Michael) (Tarzan) Heseltine and Scottish media guru Andrew Neil were having a meal at Vu's..." You can make up your own *punch*line, given that's what nearly happened when the bearded one of the three stormed out.

Blind Item 2: Which British press baron wrote a letter to an ultra senior Dubai dishdash using the actual phrase: "call your dogs off" in reference to an alleged smear campaign against a Dubai daily tabloid?

Who's zooming who?

Now, for this week's round-up of shenanigans in the murky media and PR world:

Which PR agency needs to worry about the airing of some dirty laundry? Staff may need to start covering up the bedroom antics of one of their clients, as her list of conquests gets circulated around Dubai? Her victims: half her senior personnel, as well as a couple of prominent locals and the head of one of the biggest companies in Dubai.

Which poppet has been a really good sport by offering more services to her client than just PR? We wonder if her fees rose as much as her client did.