Outlet profile

SANA

Syrian state media

Owned byOwned and operated by the Syrian government under the Ministry of Information; since December 2024 under Syria's post-Assad transitional government

FundingFully funded by the Syrian state budget; no independent revenue base has been publicly disclosed

On the administrationbroadly supportive

Background

SANA was founded on June 24, 1965, making it one of the oldest state news agencies in the Arab world. For most of its existence it operated as the official mouthpiece of the Ba'athist government and, later, the Assad family's authoritarian state. During the Syrian civil war (beginning 2011), SANA consistently characterized opposition fighters as 'armed terrorist gangs' and denied or minimized government atrocities, earning widespread criticism from press-freedom groups and failing multiple independent fact checks. Deutsche Welle noted that 'SANA, being a public news agency, has a clear agenda' on political matters. When Damascus fell to opposition forces on December 8, 2024, SANA went dark for roughly 24 hours before resuming under new management. In April 2025, Syria's transitional government appointed Zyad Mahameed as SANA's new director as part of a broader effort to distance the agency from Assad-era propaganda. In August 2025 SANA was formally relaunched under the slogan 'SANA… A Turning Point,' and the agency discontinued its Persian, Russian, and Hebrew language editions — languages closely associated with Assad's former foreign backers. As of mid-2026, SANA continues to function as a state news outlet, now reflecting the transitional government's positions, including a positive tone toward U.S.–Syria diplomatic normalization under the Trump administration.

Sources

Profile compiled 2026-07-12; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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