Gulf News receives global industry recognition for its digital subscription

Gulf News receives global industry recognition for its digital subscription

It’s the beginning of 2024 and there’s great news. Gulf News was awarded the top prize by the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-Ifra). We have won gold for Best Digital Subscription Initiative 2023 – a global recognition of our decision to go behind a paywall. This prestigious honour is part of the Digital Media Awards Middle East 2023.

A juror for the award wrote: “This initiative has a strong opportunity to reach out to specific audiences in the UAE, especially with the focus on local news. The idea … has a strong element to it that I believe can expand in the future.”

The digital subscription journey for Gulf News has been one filled with insights, challenges and the need to be extremely agile. Image Credit: Anas Thacharpadikkal/Gulf News

On April 20, 2021, Gulf News launched its digital subscription. It was a strategic decision. Many were sceptical. However, Gulf News believed – in itself, its content, its journalism, and its readership.

Like always, we dared to take the first step, to push for change and define the future of online media in the region. The digital subscription journey has been one filled with insights, challenges, and the need to be