Syrian Arab Publishing and Distributing Company is a privately owned media operator that runs several media outlets, including Sama TV and Al Watan.
Media assets
Television: Sama TV
Publishing: Al Watan, Al-Iqtissadiya
State Media Matrix Typology: Captured Private (CaPr)
Ownership and governance
Syrian Arab Publishing and Distributing Company is owned by Rami Makhlouf, cousin of Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad, according to a consolidated list of financial sanctions targets in the UK, updated by the British government in May 2022. He is by far the wealthiest and most powerful businessman in Syria, with investments in a slew of industries, including telecoms, mobile telephony, banking, and real estate. According to estimates from The Financial Times, Makhlouf has achieved, at some point, control of 60% of the Syrian economy.
Source of funding and budget
No public information is available about the media run by Syrian Arab Publishing and Distributing Company. The company receives substantial funds from the government, but there is no information about the share that this source of financing accounts for in the company’s overall budget.
Editorial independence
The media outlets run by Syrian Arab Publishing and Distributing Company follow an editorial line fully supportive of the government’s interests.
There is no domestic statute, independent assessment or oversight mechanism to validate the independence of the media run by Syrian Arab Publishing and Distributing Company.
July 2024