Mauritanian News Agency (AMI) is a state-run news agency that was created in 1975 as Agence Mauritanienne de Presse (AMP). In addition to the news agency services, AMI also publishes two newspapers, Al-Shaab in Arabic, and Horizons in French.
Media assets
News agency: AMI
Publishing: Al-Shaab, Horizons
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
AMI is a state owned company that is subordinated to the ministry of finance and economy in Mauritania. The highest governing body at AMI is a Board of Directors whose 11 members are mostly government representatives (seven representatives of various ministries, the directors general of TVM and Radio Mauritanie, a representative of the Central Bank and a staff nominee).
Source of funding and budget
AMI is predominantly funded through a subsidy from the state budget, which in 2020 stood at MRU 72.7m (US$ 2m), according to data from media reports.
Editorial independence
There are no formal rules imposed by the government on AMI to follow a pro-government line. However, local experts and journalists and an ad hoc content analysis found a heavy bias in favor of the government, with articles mostly describing the activities carried out by authorities.
No domestic statute and no independent oversight or assessment mechanism to validate AMI’s editorial independence have been identified.
September 2023