National Press Authority (NPA)

The National Press Authority (NPA) is the public body that owns and oversees Egypt’s state-owned print and digital press institutions. It manages eight state press organisations: Al-Ahram, Akhbar Al-Youm, Dar Al-Tahrir, Dar Al-Hilal, Rose Al-Youssef, Dar Al-Maaref, the Middle East News Agency (MENA), and the National Distribution Company. Together, these institutions publish or operate much of Egypt’s legacy state press, including the three flagship dailies Al-Ahram, Al-Akhbar and Al-Gomhuria.

The NPA’s portfolio has been subject to cost-cutting and consolidation. In 2021, the print evening editions of the three leading state dailies, Al-Ahram Al-Masai, Akhbar Al-Masai and Al-Masaa, were discontinued as print publications and retained as digital offerings. Dar Al-Hilal titles, including Hawa and Al-Kawakeb, were also merged or reorganised. In April 2024, the NPA approved the merger of Al-Ahram’s women’s magazine Nisf Al-Donya with Al-Bayt and shifted the combined publication to a monthly format. The NPA has indicated that further titles may move to digital-only publication, while daily and weekly publications remain in print for the time being.

Media assets

Print: Al Ahram Publishing House (Al Ahram, Al Ahram El Dawlia, Al Ahram Al Masai, Al Ahram Weekly (English), Al Ahram Hebdo (French), Al Shabab Magazine, Al Ahram Al Iktesadi, Al Ahram Al Ryadi, Al Syasa Al Dawlia, Nesf Al Donya, Alaa Al Deen, AhwalMasrya, Al Dimoqratya, Loghat Al Asr, Al Bayt, The strategic report (Arabic), The strategic report (English), Al Ahram Strategic File)l Dar Al Tahrir Publishing House (Al Gomhuria, Al Masa, The Egyptian Gazette, The Egyptian Mail (in English), La Bourse Egyptienne (in French), Le Progrès Egyptien (in French), Al Raay, Al Koura wa el mlaaeb, Al Alem Magazine, Ketab Al Gomhouria, Aqeedaty, Horyaty); Akhbar Al Youm Foundation (Al Akhbar, Akhbar Al Youm weekly, Akher Saa, Akhbar Al Hwadeth, Akhbar Al Nogoom, Akhbar Al Adab, Akhbar Al Ryada, Al Lewaa Al Islam, Fares magazine, Kittab Al Youm, Kittab Al Youm Al Tebi, Braille News, Litterature News, El Masaa News, Akhbar Al Youm Classic); Dar Al Hilal Publishing House (Al Hilal); Rose Al Yousef Foundation (Rose al Yusuf); Dar Al Maaref; News agency:Middle East News Agency (MENA)

Ownership and governance

The NPA was created in principle by Egypt’s 2014 Constitution, which provided for a set of bodies to manage and regulate state-owned media. It was formed as a functioning body alongside Egypt’s two other media authorities in 2017 and placed on its current statutory footing by Law No. 179 of 2018. It is one of three constitutional media bodies that structure state control over the sector: the Supreme Council for Media Regulation (SCMR), established under Article 211 of the Constitution and Law No. 180 of 2018; the NPA itself, established under Article 212 and Law No. 179 of 2018 to manage state-owned print and digital press; and the National Media Authority (NMA), established under Article 213 and Law No. 178 of 2018 to manage state broadcasting. The NPA operates within a framework overseen by the SCMR. Since February 2026, coordination among the three authorities has also been routed through the restored Minister of State for Information post, held by Diaa Rashwan.

The NPA’s governance framework is set out in Law No. 179 of 2018. As the public body that owns and supervises Egypt’s state press institutions, it operates under a structure that places it under strong executive control.

The NPA’s board consists of nine members. The President of the Republic directly chooses three members, including the chairman. Other members are nominated or selected through state and professional bodies, including the Journalists’ Syndicate, the House of Representatives, the Ministry of Finance, the Council of State and press-sector labour or professional organisations, with presidential confirmation shaping the final composition. Where nominating bodies do not put forward candidates, the President may appoint directly. This structure provides a formal appearance of multi-institutional participation while leaving the executive with decisive influence over the Authority’s formation and leadership.

The NPA’s first chairman, Karam Gabr, served until 2020, when he moved to chair the Supreme Council for Media Regulation. He was succeeded by Abdel-Sadek El-Shorbagy, appointed by presidential decree in 2020 and reappointed for a further four-year term under Presidential Decree No. 519 of 2024. El-Shorbagy, a veteran press-sector figure, remained in post as of mid-2026.

The NPA also exercises direct personnel power over the institutions it owns. Under the 2018 law, it appoints and may remove board chairs and editors-in-chief of state press institutions. It used these powers in April 2024, when it conducted a broad reshuffle of board chairs and editors-in-chief across national press institutions.

Source of funding and budget

The NPA is predominantly financed from the state budget, supplemented by a levy on the profits of state press groups and other legally permitted resources. According to local media experts and journalists consulted by SMM in May 2024 and February 2025, core funding continues to be traced to the Treasury, and public financial oversight has repeatedly noted the Authority’s dependency on state support.

The state press institutions have been in sustained financial difficulty. The NPA reported cutting their combined losses by about 10% between July 2020 and July 2021, but by 2022 the institutions’ accumulated debt, including interest, stood at roughly EGP 9bn, of which the principal was about EGP 3bn, according to El-Shorbagy. The liabilities included debts to the National Insurance Authority dating to the 1970s and substantial sums owed to the tax authority, much of it in advertisement taxes. The NPA has pursued settlement and rescheduling agreements with these and other state creditors. The financial weakness of the legacy newspaper model, with falling print circulation and long-running operating losses at the major houses, remains the central pressure shaping the Authority’s consolidation and digital-migration drive.

Editorial independence

Consistent with its mandate and governance structure, the NPA’s publications remain under tight government control. Legal reforms since 2014 have reinforced state influence, and the Authority’s leadership has publicly championed the state press as a “pillar of the state.” The three flagship dailies, Al-Ahram, Al-Akhbar and Al-Gomhuria, follow the government’s political line, and independent observers characterise the state press as a vehicle for official narratives rather than independent scrutiny.

There are no legal guarantees that preserve the editorial autonomy of the NPA’s titles, nor any mechanism for independent monitoring or accountability. The NPA’s statutory power to appoint and dismiss the chairs and editors-in-chief of the institutions it owns gives the executive, through the Authority, direct leverage over editorial leadership across the state press.

AI and digital policy

SMM found no evidence that the NPA has published a dedicated public AI governance or editorial-use policy as of mid-2026.

The Authority’s digital activity has centred on migrating loss-making print titles to digital-only publication, consolidating overlapping magazines, modernising websites and improving the management of foreign-language and digital publications. In 2025, the NPA held meetings with editorial teams at Al-Ahram Weekly and Al-Ahram Hebdo and their online portals to discuss developing foreign-language publications and modernising management in line with global media trends. In May 2026, Minister of State for Information Diaa Rashwan and editors of national newspapers also discussed the future of Egypt’s press sector and the need for faster official information flows.

These steps indicate digital and management modernisation, but they do not amount to a public AI or editorial-technology governance framework. SMM identified no NPA-specific public framework governing the use of AI in editorial production, verification, attribution, recommendation systems, audience analytics, synthetic-media labelling, content disclosure, bias mitigation or human editorial oversight.

Classification rationale

The NPA is classified as State-Controlled (SC), a classification maintained from prior SMM cycles. It is the public authority that owns Egypt’s state press institutions, operating under a legal framework in which the President appoints the chairman and exercises decisive influence over board formation, and in which the Authority itself appoints and removes the editorial leadership of the newspapers it owns. Its funding is predominantly drawn from the state, its leadership is installed by executive decision, and the output of its flagship titles is closely aligned with government priorities. No independent statutory or oversight mechanism safeguards the editorial autonomy of its publications. Cost-cutting, mergers and digital migration have reshaped the portfolio commercially but have not altered these determinants of control. The NPA therefore remains firmly in the SC category.

June 2026