Oman Establishment for Press, Publication and Advertising (OEPPA)

The Oman Establishment for Press, Publication and Advertising (OEPPA) is the leading state-owned newspaper publisher in the Sultanate of Oman. It is best known for publishing two of the country’s most prominent dailies: the Oman Daily Observer, the flagship English-language newspaper based in Muscat, and Oman Daily, the largest Arabic-language daily in the Sultanate.

In addition to its core publishing operations, OEPPA runs several affiliated ventures, including advertising, public relations, and printing services, making it a major player in Oman’s state-run media and communications landscape.

Media assets

Publishing: Oman Daily Observer, Oman Daily, Nizwa

State Media Matrix Typology

Ownership and governance

OEPPA is directly subordinate to the Ministry of Information, with the Minister of Information serving as its chairman, thereby consolidating editorial authority within the highest ranks of government.

This governance structure leaves no room for independent oversight or institutional separation between the publisher and state power. All editorial, managerial, and financial decisions fall within the purview of the Ministry, reinforcing the agency’s role as a governmental tool rather than an autonomous media body.

Source of funding and budget

OEPPA publications sustain themselves through a hybrid funding model, combining commercial advertising revenuewith direct government subsidies. However, according to journalists and local media analysts interviewed for this report in May 2024 and March 2025, more than half of OEPPA’s operational budget is provided by the government.

This heavy dependence on public funds underscores the limitations of the publisher’s commercial viability and raises questions about financial sustainability—particularly in light of broader fiscal reforms under Oman’s Vision 2040.

Financial data on OEPPA’s annual budget, revenue streams, or advertising contracts remains undisclosed, and no independent audits or budget breakdowns have been made available to the public.

Editorial independence

Editorial freedom within OEPPA’s publications is severely restricted. The agency’s newspapers operate under stringent government-imposed guidelines that strictly prohibit any form of criticism of the authorities, including coverage of political dissent, institutional shortcomings, or public sector inefficiencies.

These constraints mirror broader conditions across Oman’s tightly controlled media environment, where the government has maintained a zero-tolerance policy toward critical reporting.

Former staff at the Oman Daily Observer have publicly acknowledged facing direct censorship and editorial interference, particularly in relation to political or governance-related coverage.

As of mid-2025, no domestic statute guarantees editorial independence, nor is there any independent monitoring body to assess or validate the impartiality of OEPPA’s publications. The agency thus remains emblematic of a media system where journalistic autonomy is absent and self-censorship is institutionalized.

July 2025