Pressure of Truth
The news, with the spin made visible.
Outlet profile

The National (Abu Dhabi, editorial)

UAE state-aligned (Abu Dhabi)

Owned byInternational Media Investments (IMI), a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation (ADMIC), controlled by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE and a senior member of the Abu Dhabi ruling family
FundingPrimarily advertising revenue; backed by a private royal-family investment vehicle rather than direct state budget allocation
On the administrationmostly neutral

Background

The National was founded on April 17, 2008, by Abu Dhabi Media, a state-owned company, with the stated ambition of becoming the region's premier English-language newspaper. Its founding editor, Martin Newland (former editor of The Daily Telegraph), recruited heavily from Western outlets including the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, giving the paper an initially cosmopolitan staff and aspirations toward independent journalism. In 2016, the paper was sold to International Media Investments (IMI), a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation, which is controlled by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan — the UAE royal who also owns Manchester City football club and holds a stake in Sky News Arabia. The National relaunched under the new ownership in July 2017, moving to new headquarters and opening a London foreign bureau. Despite its professional staff, the Financial Times has described it as 'a mouthpiece for Abu Dhabi's worldview,' and the paper is known to avoid coverage critical of UAE government policy, effectively self-censoring on politically sensitive domestic matters. Media Bias/Fact Check rates it right-center with mixed factual reporting, citing concerns about propaganda and lack of editorial transparency. A 2013 New Republic profile documented a pattern of early editorial ambition giving way to tighter government-aligned constraints over time. The outlet covers international affairs, Gulf business, and regional diplomacy with a strong UAE-government frame, and its coverage of U.S.-UAE relations has been consistently positive during the current period of deepening economic ties between Washington and Abu Dhabi.

Sources

  1. The National (Abu Dhabi) – Wikipedia
  2. The National (UAE) – Bias and Credibility – Media Bias/Fact Check
  3. About Us – The National News
  4. Editor of The National: 'Disservice' to say we are UAE mouthpiece – Press Gazette
  5. The National: Abu Dhabi's brief experiment in press freedom – The New Republic
  6. Man City owner buys The National newspaper – Arab News
  7. US-UAE investment surged in year since Trump visit, report says – The National

Profile compiled 2026-07-13; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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