A government-backed venture is set to launch a personalised newspaper for Dubai residents and expats.

Web portal-driven, it will allow readers to choose the news they want to read, with software channelling it into a new digitally-printed publication.

The bold plan comes from Masar Printing & Publishing, a government unit that is part of Dubai Media Inc, which also publishes the Al Bayan, Emirates Today and Emirates 24/7 newspapers, Ara magazine, and has TV stations, online services and a round-the-clock news app.

“You’ll be able to take Al Bayan and say these are your interests and make your own newspaper,” Samer Sabri Abdel Qader (pictured) says. “This is a new concept and will not eliminate existing publications – it’s not an 85/15 split between print and digital. This is extra.”

The prepress and digital director says the aim will be to give readers what they want from in a printed newspaper and eliminate what they don’t. Advertising will also be targetted to reader interests with links to loyalty programmes mooted.

It’s not the first time such a project has been announced, but others including Berlin’s niiu – which has morphed into a tablet app – and a Swiss Post venture have found the business model too hard. What differentiates this is the backing it has from one of the richest countries in the world.

The Masar Printing & Publishing project was announced at a press conference at the World Publishing Expo in Amsterdam, with Kodak the chosen digital printing partner. Masar already has Kodak CTP and workflow and NexPress sheetfed digital equipment.

A giant 35 hectare print site – the size of seven football pitches – in Dubai’s International Media Production Zone – already houses three hybrid heatset/coldset manroland Cromoman newspaper presses with Ferag drum inserting and mailroom. A commercial section includes a 48-page manroland Lithoman heatset web as well as six and ten-colour Heidelberg sheetfed presses.

Kodak’s new Prosper 6000 inkjet web is the likely press of choice, teamed with high-speed finishing such as manroland’s FoldLine system.

At the World Publishing Expo in Amsterdam this month, the company was also in talks about the web portal which would be needed to interface and integrate newspaper content management and production systems.

An inkjet web pressline is already up and running in Dubai, where Atlas Printing & Publishing uses Screen and Hunkeler equipment to print editions of international newspapers for expats and travellers, including those in the expensive seats of Emirates airliners.

Peter Coleman