Jordan News Agency (PETRA)

The Jordan News Agency (Petra, Arabic: وكالة الأنباء الأردنية) is the official national news agency of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, with institutional roots going back to 1965 and formal establishment by Royal Decree on 16 July 1969 as an independent department of the then Ministry of Information; the agency is headquartered in Amman. Petra distributes Arabic and English news bulletins, photographic content, audiovisual material and training services across Jordan and the wider Arab region, supplies content to Jordanian and regional media outlets, and has hosted the Federation of Arab News Agencies (FANA) media training centre since 2012.

Media assets

News agency: PETRA

Ownership and governance

Petra’s institutional roots go back to 1965, with the Royal Decree of 16 July 1969 formally establishing the Jordan News Agency as an independent department of the then Ministry of Information. Following the dissolution of the Ministry of Information in June 2004, a transitional ordinance granted Petra financial and administrative independence and defined the powers of the Board of Directors and the Director General; the agency’s current legal framework comprises Jordan News Agency Law No. 11 of 2009 and Administrative Regulation Bylaw No. 60 of 2014, which govern Petra’s institutional architecture during the SMM 2025/26 review period. Under that framework, hierarchical oversight remains firmly within the state: the Director General manages day-to-day operations, the Minister of Government Communication chairs the agency’s Board of Directors, and Petra is funded as a direct budget chapter within the Prime Ministry portfolio.

The relevant governance continuity during the 2025/26 cycle was Mohammad Momani’s continued service as Minister of Government Communication and chair of Petra’s Board of Directors, following his appointment in the September 2024 Hassan government and through the August 2025 cabinet reshuffle. As Minister of Government Communication, Momani chairs Petra’s Board of Directors and serves as the official spokesperson for the government. The wider political context for Petra governance during the cycle was shaped by the September 2024 parliamentary elections and the subsequent formation of the Hassan government, with the largest opposition Islamic Action Front bloc holding 31 of 138 seats in the Lower House.

Fairouz Mubaidin (also rendered Fayrouz Mubaidin in some sources) has served as Director General of Petra throughout the 2025/26 review period, continuing in post from her 2023 appointment, and remains the principal executive officer responsible for the agency’s day-to-day editorial and operational activity. Mubaidin was publicly identified as Director General in Petra editorial output through April 2026 and was named as such in regional news-agency communications during the 2026 cycle, including her March 2026 congratulatory message to the Palestinian news agency WAFA on its UNA Media Professionalism Award.

Source of funding and budget

Petra is funded overwhelmingly through direct state budget allocations, with over 90 per cent of its total funding consistently drawn from state support according to SMM prior-cycle data, supplemented by commercial revenue from news content sales, photo archive access, training services and equipment rentals. The agency’s state allocation was approximately JOD 2.8 million (approximately US$4 million) in 2019, rising to over JOD 3 million (approximately US$4.2 million) in 2023, with re-estimated 2025 expenditure of approximately JOD 2.955 million according to the 2026 General Budget Department chapter. According to Lower House Finance Committee hearings in late 2024, Petra was allocated approximately JOD 3.2 million in the 2025 budget, an increase of approximately JOD 312,000 from the prior year.

The 2026 General Budget Department chapter for the Prime Ministry portfolio’s Jordan News Agency line (Chapter 0304) lists Petra’s estimated 2026 total expenditure at approximately JOD 3.435 million, comprising approximately JOD 3.185 million in current expenditure and approximately JOD 250,000 in capital expenditure. The 2026 General Budget Law was ratified by Royal Decree and published in the Official Gazette in December 2025, with total Jordanian public revenues estimated at approximately JOD 10.931 billion. The 2025/26 cycle produced no significant shift in Petra’s funding model: the agency continues to operate within a state-funded framework with limited commercial revenue diversification, and no structural funding reforms had materialised by the close of the SMM review window.

Editorial independence

Petra’s editorial output throughout the 2025/26 cycle has continued to reflect a close alignment with Jordanian government positions. SMM content review and Jordanian media observers have consistently characterised Petra as functioning effectively as a government mouthpiece, with the agency’s reporting closely aligned with official state narratives on domestic politics, regional affairs and press-freedom matters. Petra reporting during the cycle has consistently relayed Royal Decree announcements, Cabinet decisions, Royal Family activities and ministerial statements as the principal news output of the agency, and has produced minimal critical or investigative coverage of contentious Jordanian press-freedom issues including the 2023 Cybercrime Law and the May 2025 blocking of twelve online news outlets.

No statute in Jordanian law guarantees the editorial independence of Petra, and no independent oversight body exists to assess editorial standards or prevent political interference at the agency. The current legal framework of Jordan News Agency Law No. 11 of 2009 and Administrative Regulation Bylaw No. 60 of 2014 defines the powers of the Board and the Director General but does not create an effective arm’s-length editorial firewall: the Board is chaired by a sitting Council of Ministers member, the Director General operates within the Jordanian senior public-sector appointment framework, and editorial direction is consistent with broader state communication policy coordinated through the Ministry of Government Communication.

AI and digital policy

Petra has not published a public-facing institutional AI policy. However, the 2026 General Budget Department chapter for Petra lists adoption of AI tools as part of the agency’s digital-content development priorities, and identifies deepfakes and negative uses of artificial intelligence as operational challenges for the cycle. Jordan’s national digital-policy work is pursued primarily through the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, with policy emphasis on infrastructure development, e-government services and AI ecosystem-building rather than a news-agency-specific generative-AI framework. Petra has continued to expand its digital platform delivery during the cycle, including its multi-platform website, mobile applications and SMS news services, but no public-sector generative-AI framework specific to Petra was identified during the 2025/26 review.

Classification rationale

Petra (Jordan News Agency) remains classified as State-Controlled (SC) for the 2026 cycle. The agency is Jordan’s official national news agency operating under a public legal framework that includes Jordan News Agency Law No. 11 of 2009 and Administrative Regulation Bylaw No. 60 of 2014, with a Board of Directors chaired by the sitting Minister of Government Communication (Mohammad Momani, continuing in post from the September 2024 Hassan government through the August 2025 cabinet reshuffle) and Director General Fairouz Mubaidin remaining in post during the review period. Petra’s 2026 General Budget Department chapter lists estimated total expenditure of approximately JOD 3.435 million while commercial services in news, photo, training and equipment remain supplementary, and no effective arm’s-length editorial firewall or independent oversight mechanism was identified during the 2025/26 review. The 2025/26 cycle produced no governance, funding or editorial reform sufficient to move Petra out of the SC category: the agency continues to function as the principal channel for official Jordanian state communication output, with editorial production closely aligned to official state narratives during a cycle in which the 2023 Cybercrime Law remained in force and twelve online news outlets were blocked.

June 2026