DUBAI // Readers were buzzing with enthusiasm for The National's sixth anniversary edition - with people praising the paper as "a hard-copy website", minus the annoying pop up ads of course.
Each page of yesterday's newspaper was filled with photographs or graphics, with words replaced by stunning images that captured the mood of the day's news. The stories themselves were all available online or on readers smartphones via a QR Code.
“This is a really good job,” said Sherwin Igana Talaguit, a data analyst. “The pictures really get your attention, too many words can be boring visually. It feels like a power point presentation, very unique.”
He added the QR Codes were nice touch, but not useful for people without smartphones.
“You should have more editions like this, maybe a weekend paper. It is really nice to ease up on the tension from the rest of the week,” said Mr Talaguit.
“This feels like a hard copy of a website, like I’m on the internet,” said Romulo Kintanar, a government studies officer. “But it’s better, there are no annoying pop-up ads.”
“It really captures the attention, this should be done more often.
“I really like the illustrations, people browse the paper more anyway, so it makes sense to make it more visual,” said Mr Kintanar.
First time reader Zainab Saif Mirza was also impressed, hailing the edition as “smartpaper for a smart city”.
"This is my first time reading The National… wow," said the government employee. "I love the vibrant colour and yet at the same time it's very relaxing on the eye. This is like a smartpaper for a smart city the QR Codes are great.
“It is faster to get through the paper, no one reads every word these days,” said Ms Mirza. “And these info graphics are great, they get the point across better.”
“I give it 10 out of 10, the paper should stay this way,” she added.
Twitter was also buzzing about the concept.
@NAlRashdi tweeted: “@TheNationalUAE by far the coolest newspaper I have ever read, great job and please keep up the creativity. Seriously amazing,love the QRcodes. Amazing work, so well thought out, I was blown away!”
“Great experiment from @TheNationalUAE today! Enjoying the paper and all the great visuals,” Zoya Pasha tweeted. “I stood up in front of my office this morning to make sure everyone saw it.”
David O’Mahony tweeted: “ @AlOtaiba_M @TheNationalUAE It looks fantastic, well done to all involved.”
@ZeeshanUAE tweeted: “Congratulations to @TheNationalUAE on its sixth birthday. The visual depiction of news looks brilliant!”
Hind Mezaina said, “Happy 6th anniversary @TheNationalUAE. You’ve changed a lot over the past 6 years, but you do a good job with your photography.”
However, not everyone was happy with the special edition, with some readers unhappy with the lack of traditional news stories on each page.
“I buy a newspaper to read, not look at pictures,” said Khulood Mohammed, 27, a banker. “It looks great, love the pictures and illustrations are great. But in the end all it does is forward me to the webpage.”
“There are no headlines,” said Laverne Sunga, 23. “I don’t like it, it doesn’t feel like a newspaper, it feels more like a magazine.”
Dion Mavath tweeted: “wow @TheNationalUAE today was a waste of time! Good way to dumb down society by literally making it a comic book! Happy birthday or not.”
An exhibition featuring 40 of the best images taken by The National’s photographers over the past six years will be on display from April 18 to 30 at the Anantara Art Space in the Eastern Mangroves Hotel, Abu Dhabi.
malkhan@thenational.ae