Trouble in National-Land

This story almost slipped me; the sneaky folks at the National have been keeping it on the down low. On their own newspaper they call it a “promotion.” But if Adam Schreck’s source is to be believed, there is some trouble over at ADM:

A person at Abu Dhabi Media who has worked with Newland said the leadership change has "been in the cards for a long time" and was not a reflection of unhappiness with the editor's "incredibly hands-on" work. But the person, who was granted anonymity in order to speak freely about the change, said economic pressures as a result of the global downturn and political tensions stemming from the paper's government-owned status took their toll.

We have yet to see any distribution or subscription numbers from the National since they launched. But if anybody wants to sell papers, then get a hold of their budget and publish it. “Economic pressures” translates as: the National is in the red, big time. Add to that a boss who is "incredibly hands-on" and you got a corporate mutiny by the journalist/bureaucrats that Newland himself hired. Ouch.