Middle East News Agency

Middle East News Agency

Wakalt Inbaa al Sharq al Awsat[1]
Agency overview
Formed	15 December 1955; 68 years ago (15 December 1955)
Jurisdiction	Egyptian government
Headquarters	Cairo
Parent agency	Ministry of Information
Website	mena.org.eg

The Middle East News Agency (MENA) is a news agency based in Egypt. It is run by the Egyptian government.

History and profile

The MENA was founded on 15 December 1955 as a joint stock company owned by Egyptian press establishments.^[2] The agency, based in Cairo,^[3] began its operations on 28 February 1956.^[4] The owner of the agency became the Egyptian government in 1962.^[4] In 1978, the agency's owner became the Shura Council.^[4] In 1980, a board of directors was established and began to run the agency.^[4] It was later attached to the Ministry of Information.^[4]

Mustafa Naguib is among the former chiefs of the agency.^[5] Mahfuz Al Ansari also served in the post.^[6] In July 2005, he was replaced by Abdullah Hassan as editor-in-chief.^[6] In June 2014, Alaa Heidar was appointed editor-in-chief of the agency.^[7]

The MENA is the member of the Federation of Arab News Agencies that includes the national news agencies of 18 Arab countries.^[8] The agency had cooperation with nearly 25 news agencies in the 1990s.^[4] It offers news in three languages, namely Arabic, English and French.^[9][10]

It has following six major services:^[9] (1) Local Arabic news of which target audience is those subscribers living in Egypt and covers political, social, economic, culture and sports news in the Arab world, the Middle East and internationally. (2) Press services which include features news analysis, and photo services and international sectors such as culture, art, science, sports and history. (3) Publications in print which informs the subscribers about printed daily, biweekly and weekly. (4) Cairo Press Review which is a daily English-language publication, offering news published in the Egyptian newspapers. (5) Party Press Review news which is a biweekly publication in English about the main news published in the party newspapers in Egypt and (6) The MEN economic magazine which is a weekly English-language publication and offers the main economic news concerning those who are part of the economy of Egypt.^[9]

On 5 February 2014, the agency started a news website, called Bawabet Sharq Al Awsat.^[11]

References

1. Park, Myung-Jin; Curran, James (2000). De-Westernizing Media Studies. Psychology Press. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-415-19394-8.
2. "Historical background". Middle East News Agency. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
3. "Chronology: Egypt". The Middle East Journal. 54 (3). Summer 2000. Archived from the original on 30 November 2018.
4. Kamalipour, Yahya R.; Mowlana, Hamid (1994). Mass Media in the Middle East: A Comprehensive Handbook. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Archived from the original on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
5. Napoli, James J. (August 1995). "Cairo Communique: New Press Law Alienates Mubarak's Media Supporters". Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. XI (2). Archived from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
6. "Egypt axes media moguls". News24. 4 July 2005. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
7. "Press council appoints editors of state-owned newspapers". Aswat Masriya. 28 June 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
8. "About Us". Fana News. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
9. Allam, Rasha. "Egypt. Media Landscape". European Journalism Centre. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
10. "Egypt - Media Landscape". Journalism Network. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
11. Media Situation in Egypt: Tenth report for the period January and February 2014 (PDF). Al Sawt Al Hurr (Report). 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.