Muscat Daily

Editorial content is generated by an in-house team of reporters and writers in the case of Oman news. International news is sourced from a variety of newswires, including [http://www.nytsyn.com/ The New York Times Syndicate and News Service], BBC, dpa, TMS Features, IANS, Asian News Network. The paper runs crosswords provided by The Guardian.

The newspaper is organized in two sections. Section 1 is the main section with 12 pages containing Omani (National) news, Regional and World news, Op-Ed and Sports. Section 2 is 8 pages, and carries Business news, Crosswords, Sudoku puzzles, quiz questions and a Features section. On Wednesdays, TheWeek newspaper is delivered free to Muscat Daily subscribers for weekend reading.

The newspapers logo is a bright tulip, in a orange and black colors. The design has received favorable reviews at design workshops run by WAN-IFRA, the biggest association of publishers in the world{{Citation needed|date=August 2013}}. The Muscat Daily is printed at the company's own printing facility located on the outskirts of Muscat, and also undertakes contract printing operations.

In February 2010, the parent company, then Apex Press and Publishing, announced that they had signed an agreement to purchase a Goss Community SSC Press with a rated speed of 35,000 copies per hour from the American printing press manufacturer.{{cite web|url=http://www.printingtalk.com/news/gss/gss285.html|title=Apex to purchase Goss Community Press|publisher=Printing Talk|accessdate=March 30, 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20100504043616/http://www.printingtalk.com/news/gss/gss285.html|archivedate=May 4, 2010}}

The circulation quickly picked up and the paper went on to become the largest selling English-language daily in the Sultanate of Oman by mid-2010. The main reason quoted by industry analysts for this was the relatively low annual subscription fees of the newspaper in a market which traditionally had fewer than 1,000 residential subscribers for English dailies before the entry of Muscat Daily.

Muscat Daily has been criticized as being a late entry into the newspaper arena in Oman at a time when newspaper subscriptions are falling in the West.{{Citation needed|date=August 2013}} In a scathing critique, Eliott Beer posted on AdNation Middle East's website, "Apparently no-one's told the guys in Oman about the demise of traditional print media (it's dead, you know) - some publishers only gone and started up another newspaper."{{cite web|url= http://adnationme.com/news/media-news/muscat-daily-preps-for-launch.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100228162742/http://adnationme.com/news/media-news/muscat-daily-preps-for-launch.html|url-status= usurped|archive-date= February 28, 2010|title=AdNation criticises Muscat Daily launch|publisher=AdNation|accessdate=March 30, 2011|first=Eliott|last=Beer}}

However, parent company Apex Media says that newspaper circulations are increasing in emerging markets and since the penetration of broadband in Oman is still only about 12% {{cite web|url=http://www.internetworldstats.com/middle.htm|title=Broadband statistics in Oman|publisher=Internet world stats|accessdate=May 10, 2011}} of the total population, it does not see any threat to its print business. Muscat Daily was launched as a direct competitor to other English language dailies in Oman, including the Times of Oman, Oman Tribune and the government-run Oman Daily Observer.{{cite web|url=http://www.middleeastmediaguide.com/downloads/newspapers.pdf|title=Middle East Newspaper Guide for download|publisher=Middle East Guide|accessdate=March 30, 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720105444/http://www.middleeastmediaguide.com/downloads/newspapers.pdf|archivedate=July 20, 2011}}

The role that Muscat Daily has played in pushing the boundaries of media freedom and censorship in 'the sleepy sultanate' has been recognized by worldwide media, particularly those that work in markets where media freedom is guaranteed. An article in Christian Science Monitor on the protests and media freedom in Oman said:

"The fact that Oman's first civil unrest in 40 years left at least one person dead in a northern port city here was big news. But it was even bigger news that the English-language Muscat Daily declared "Black Sunday in Sohar" on its front page and carried a half-page photograph showing smoke filling the sky above a roundabout seized by protesters."{{cite journal|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0301/In-Oman-protests-spur-timid-media-to-cover-the-news|title=Muscat Daily coverage of Sohar protests pushes the lines of media censorship in Oman|journal=Christian Science Monitor|date=March 2011|accessdate=April 20, 2011}}

The article was subsequently carried in other prominent newspapers and publications across the world, including Gulf News,{{cite web|url=http://m.gulfnews.com/news/gulf/oman/sea-change-in-media-coverage-1.770758|title=Christian Science Monitor article on Oman media in Gulf News|date=3 March 2011 |publisher=Gulf News|accessdate=April 20, 2011}} Yahoo News,{{cite web|url=http://ca.news.yahoo.com/oman-protests-spur-timid-media-cover-news-20110301-122600-257.html|title=Media freedom article by Jackie Spinner on Yahoo News Canada|date=March 2011 |publisher=Yahoo News|accessdate=May 11, 2011}} MinnPost {{cite web|url=http://www.minnpost.com/worldcsm/2011/03/02/26244/in_oman_protests_spur_timid_media_to_cover_the_news|title=Oman's protest spurs timid media to cover the news|publisher=MinnPost|accessdate=May 11, 2011}}

According to an article in The Economist in early March 2011, "Newspapers such as the Muscat Daily have begun to cover the protests in a way that would have been unthinkable even a week ago."{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/node/18291567?story_id=18291567|title=The sultanate suddenly stirs|newspaper=The Economist|date=3 March 2011|accessdate=May 17, 2011}}

Among other international media, Spanish newspaper El País has quoted Muscat Daily in its coverage of the 2011 Omani protests and the related action by the government and other actors in the 2011 protests. Talking about the reforms instituted by Sultan Qaboos, in the wake of the protests it said:

"Según datos recabados por el Muscat Daily, la medida beneficia a 130.000 ciudadanos, el 73% de todos los que trabajan ese sector."{{cite news|url=http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Oman/moviliza/Ejercito/protesta/elpepiint/20110302elpepiint_12/Tes|title=Protests and reforms in Oman|newspaper=El País|date=2 March 2011|accessdate=May 17, 2011|last1=Espinosa|first1=Ángeles}} (Translation: According to data compiled by Muscat Daily, the new measures will benefit about 130,000 people, or about 73% of those working in the private sector.)

• {{cite web|url=http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090930/BUSINESS/709309941/1005|title=Fourth daily ready to launch in Oman|publisher=The National|date=20 September 2009|first=Keach|last=Hagey|access-date=29 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225429/http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20090930%2FBUSINESS%2F709309941%2F1005|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=dead}}

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Category:2009 establishments in Oman

Category:Daily newspapers published in Oman

Category:English-language newspapers published in Arab countries

Category:Arab mass media

Category:Newspapers established in 2009