Shafaq News
Iraqi independent, center
Background
Shafaq News launched in 2011, growing out of the Shafaq Foundation for Culture and Media, a cultural-media organization associated with Iraq's Feyli Kurdish community — a predominantly Shia Kurdish group historically concentrated along the Iraq-Iran border who suffered severe persecution under Saddam Hussein. Ali Hussein Feyli chairs the agency and oversees a network of correspondents reporting across Iraq, the Kurdistan Region, and the wider Middle East. Publishing in Arabic, Kurdish, and English has helped it reach both regional and international audiences, and the outlet has a content partnership with the BBC. A UK-registered affiliate, Shafaq Centre for News and Media Cooperation Limited, is registered with Companies House in Britain, though its precise operational role is not publicly detailed. The outlet's specific revenue sources and funding breakdown have not been fully disclosed; it does not appear to receive direct government budget support, distinguishing it from state-run Iraqi outlets such as the Iraqi News Agency. Media Bias/Fact Check rates Shafaq News as 'Least Biased' and 'High Factual,' citing reasonable sourcing and generally reliable reporting. The agency presents itself as independent and editorially professional, and its coverage of U.S. policy toward Iraq under the Trump administration — including troop withdrawals, sanctions pressure, and the reshaping of the U.S.-Iraq relationship — has been reported in a straight news register without overt advocacy.
Sources
- Shafaq News — Bias and Credibility, Media Bias/Fact Check
- About Shafaq News Agency
- Shafaq Centre for News and Media Cooperation Limited — Companies House (UK)
- Mass media in Iraq — Wikipedia
- Trump reengineers Middle East, drops Iraq file — Shafaq News
- Trump Puts Pressure on Baghdad — The Soufan Center
Profile compiled 2026-09-11; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.