DUBAI-- Gulf News, a newspaper part-owned by a senior government minister in the United Arab Emirates, has told its journalists to avoid using the words "bailout" and "default" when writing about Dubai's debt crisis, according to an internal memo sent to staff and seen by Zawya Dow Jones.

Reporters for the paper, the largest English-language daily in the U.A.E., were also urged to steer clear of the phrase "debt crisis" and asked to "ensure the following politically correct terminology is used" -- words such as "financial consolidation" and "fiscal support" -- when describing the sheikdom's economic problems and the assistance it has received from Abu Dhabi, according to the note sent Dec. 14.

"This is a style guide," said Francis Matthew, the Dubai-based paper's editor-at-large when asked by Zawya Dow Jones about the memo. "We're trying to restrict people from using financially incorrect terms."

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U.A.E. officials have criticized international press coverage of Dubai's debt crisis since the emirate surprised markets on Nov. 25, saying it needed to freeze $26 billion of debt owed by one of its largest government-owned groups, Dubai World.

Abu Dhabi bailed out Dubai on Dec. 14 with $10 billion, which the government used partly to pay off an Islamic bond due on that day.

Dubai's finance chief, Abdulrahman Al Saleh, this month blamed the media for spreading "blind panic" about the emirate's financial woes following the standstill request that triggered a downgrade of many of its banks and government-owned companies.

The sheikdom, which closely monitors the media, has come under intense scrutiny as it struggles to contain the estimated $80 billion of debt, mostly racked up by its government-owned companies building speculative real estate and infrastructure projects.

The Sunday Times was ordered off shelves in the U.A.E. on Nov. 29 after the paper carried a double-page graphic illustrating Dubai's ruler, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, sinking in a sea of debt. Its sister publication, The Times, was censored in the U.A.E. on Dec. 5 for a story that described Sheik Mohammed as a "benign dictator" and criticized his management of the economy.

The Sunday Times and The Times are part of News International, a unit of News Corp., owner of Dow Jones & Co, publisher of The Wall Street Journal.

Gulf News is published by Al Nisr Publishing, which is part-owned by the country's Minister of State for Financial Affairs, Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, who chairs the company. Abdulrahman Hassan Abdulhamid Al Rostamani and Jumaa Al Majid, two large merchant families in Dubai, are also part owners along with the Al Tayer Group, according to Zawya.com's corporate monitor service.