Oman News Agency (ONA)

The Oman News Agency (ONA) (Arabic: وكالة الأنباء العمانية) is the official state news agency of the Sultanate of Oman, publishing in Arabic and English and serving as the principal wire-service reference for official statements, government communications and diplomatic coverage. ONA was established by Royal Decree No. 39/86 of 29 May 1986 and underwent two subsequent administrative-placement changes: it was integrated into the Oman Establishment for Press, News, Publication, and Advertising by Royal Decree No. 43/97 of 25 June 1997, and its administrative control was transferred to the Ministry of Information by Royal Decree No. 75/2006, where it has remained continuously since.

Media assets

News agency: ONA

Ownership and governance

ONA operates as a state news agency under the direct authority of the Ministry of Information, following the transfer of its administrative control by Royal Decree No. 75/2006. The Ministry exercises decision-making authority over the agency’s operations, personnel appointments and editorial direction, and there is no independent governing board, statutory editorial firewall or external oversight body shielding ONA from government direction. Unlike the former Public Authority for Radio and Television and the former Oman Establishment for Press, News, Publication, and Advertising, which were both abolished by Royal Decree No. 95/2020 of 18 August 2020 with their assets and employees transferred to the Ministry of Information, ONA was already directly subordinate to the Ministry under the 2006 arrangement and its institutional identity was therefore unaffected by the 2020 restructuring decree.

Current public sources identify Ibrahim bin Saif Al-Azri as Director-General and Editor-in-Chief of ONA. He has represented the agency in regional and international news-agency forums and was identified in 2025 GCC news-agency reporting as Director-General and Editor-in-Chief of the Oman News Agency.

The wider cycle context for ONA governance was shaped by Royal Decree No. 17/2026, issued by Sultan Haitham bin Tariq on 12 January 2026 and published in Official Gazette 1630a on 13 January 2026. The decree reconstituted the Council of Ministers, including the appointment of HH Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham bin Tariq Al Said as Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and HH Sayyid Bilarab bin Haitham bin Tariq Al Said as Minister of State and Governor of Muscat, while retaining Al-Harrasi as Minister of Information. The Ministry’s current public structure also identifies Mohammed bin Said Al-Balushi as Undersecretary of the Ministry of Information, appointed by Royal Decree No. 19/2022. No structural restructuring introducing editorial independence or arm’s-length governance for ONA was identified during the 2025/26 SMM review.

Source of funding and budget

ONA is state-funded, receiving its operational budget through the Ministry of Information framework. According to SMM-retained expert sources and local journalists and media analysts consulted in May 2024 and March 2025, the agency does not operate on advertising or commercial income and has no significant diversified revenue streams.

No standalone 2025/26 allocation for ONA was identified in publicly disclosed Ministry of Information or Ministry of Finance documentation reviewed by SMM during the cycle. There are no publicly available financial reports for the agency’s operations, and no public independent audits or agency-level budget disclosures were identified during the SMM review. This absence of independent audited disclosure for the agency’s operations is consistent with broader patterns across the Sultanate’s state-funded media institutions.

Editorial independence

ONA operates under strict editorial constraints, with content production designed to reflect and amplify the positions of the Sultanate’s ruling authorities. The agency’s location inside the Ministry of Information ensures that ministerial direction extends across content production, staffing and day-to-day operations. According to SMM-retained expert sources and local and international media analysts consulted during prior cycles, criticism of the Sultan, the royal family, the government and state policies is strictly restricted across the agency’s output, and editorial decisions are subject to government approval whether directly or indirectly.

The RSF Oman 2026 country assessment similarly characterises self-censorship as the rule in Oman, noting that criticism of Sultan Haitham bin Tariq and his predecessor Sultan Qaboos bin Said is unacceptable and that independent media are targeted whenever they engage with sensitive matters such as corruption. RSF also notes that Omani journalism is marked by overwhelmingly positive coverage, with reporters largely relying on information provided by governmental and private institutions.

The 2025/26 cycle did not produce any structural editorial reform for ONA. Oman’s new Media Law, issued by Royal Decree No. 58/2024, and its executive regulation, issued by Ministerial Decision No. 165/2025, consolidated Ministry authority over licensing and media activity, but no statutory editorial-independence guarantee for the agency was identified during the SMM review. No internal editorial charter, independent regulatory body or external oversight mechanism monitoring ONA’s compliance with journalistic standards was identified during the cycle.

AI and digital policy

No cycle-window AI-tool deployment or generative-AI editorial integration was identified at ONA during the SMM 2025/26 review, and no public framework governing the use of generative AI or AI-enabled systems in editorial decision-making, verification, newsroom production, archiving, distribution or audience-facing content has been published.

Classification rationale

ONA remains classified as State-Controlled (SC) for the 2026 cycle. The agency operates as a state news agency within the Ministry of Information framework, having been transferred to direct Ministry supervision by Royal Decree No. 75/2006 and remaining continuously under that administrative arrangement (unlike the former PART and OEPPA, which were both abolished by Royal Decree No. 95/2020 of 18 August 2020), with editorial direction, personnel appointments and operations placed directly under ministerial authority and no statutory editorial-independence guarantee or arm’s-length editorial firewall protecting ONA’s output from government direction. The 2025/26 cycle produced no governance, funding or editorial reform sufficient to move ONA out of the SC category: the agency continued to function as the Sultanate’s official state news wire service under Minister of Information Al-Harrasi (continued under Royal Decree No. 17/2026) and Director-General Ibrahim bin Saif Al-Azri, reflected in RSF’s weak 2026 legal-indicator score for Oman.

June 2026