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Sky News, the London-based 24-hour news channel, is in the UAE this week, reporting on the country’s growing global importance while exploring locations for a bureau it plans to open here next year.
While the news team fronted by Tim Marshall, the channel’s foreign affairs editor, broadcast live stories about Dubai’s economic challenges from atop a new five-star hotel overlooking the Burj Durbai, the channel’s executives were busy meeting with representatives of the media zones of both Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
“It’s our third visit this year, because it’s a very big decision,” Mr Marshall said. “You’ve got to think about office space, broadband connections, miles of cabling, staff, and you don’t want to get it wrong and suddenly have to move offices two months in.”
John Ryley, the head of Sky News, told reporters in April that the channel was looking to open a “front door in the Gulf region” in addition to its eight bureaus around the world. Although the channel seems to have moved closer to deciding it wants that door to be in the Emirates, it is still on the fence about which emirate will host it.
“We are still negotiating,” said Kelvin O’Shea, a producer for the channel. “We are talking to both [Abu Dhabi and Dubai] because you’ve got to.”
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