Oman Establishment for Press Publication and Advertising (OEPPA) is the main newspaper publisher in Oman. It runs Oman Daily Observer, an English-language daily published from Muscat, the capital city of Oman, and Oman Daily, the largest Arabic daily newspaper in the Sultanate. OEPPA also runs businesses operating advertising and PR activities or offering printing services.
Media assets
Publishing: Oman Daily Observer, Oman Daily, Nizwa
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
OEPPA is a body subordinated and accountable to the Ministry of Information. The Information Minister serves as the publisher’s chairman.
Source of funding and budget
The newspapers published by OEPPA generate funding from ad sales, but more than 50% of their budgets come from the government of Oman, according to journalists and experts who have followed Oman in recent years interviews in May 2024.
Editorial independence
The OEPPA publications operate under a strict set of editorial rules that do not permit any criticism of the authorities. These restrictions extend to all other media in the country, with the government clamping down harshly on any media outlet that reports critically on the government. Former employees of Oman Daily Observer spoke about the censorship they faced at the newspaper.
No domestic statute or independent assessment/oversight mechanism that would validate the independence of OEPPA’s publications have been identified.
July 2024