The Libyan News Agency (WAL) was established in 1964 through a government decree. The agency changed its name several times during its history. It operated as Jamahiriya News Agency before the 2011 regime change when it was renamed as Libyan News Agency. An eponymous competing news agency was operated by the self-declared Tobruk government, which was not recognized by the international community. Later, the agency was led by the Government of National Unity, which was formed in 2021. In March 2021, the two agencies operating under the same name were merged into one institution.
Media assets
News agency: WAL
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
WAL was re-established in 2011 based on a decision made by the Executive Office of the Transitional National Council. Since then, according to local journalists and experts interviewed for this report in March and May 2024, it has operated as an agency affiliated with the GNA. There are no available documents about WAL’s ownership. Journalists and experts who work in Libya say that the decision to appoint the management of WAL lies entirely with the government.
Source of funding and budget
There are no publicly available documents about the funding of WAL. According to records from Altai Consulting, a research group that used to map the media outlets in Libya, as well as journalists and experts who work in Libya interviewed for this report in March and May 2024, WAL was entirely funded by the Government of National Accord (GNA) until the formation of the Government of National Unity in March 2021. The agency has since been wholly financed by the newly created government. In Libya, in fact, in the absence of a functional market, the only two media funding sources are the government (the political forces behind various self-declared governments) and international grants (from institutional donors or philanthropies).
Editorial independence
According to various independent sources, journalists, and experts who work in Libya interviewed for this report in March and May 2024, and an informal content analysis carried out for this project by the Medi and Journalism Research Center (MJRC), WAL’s editorial policy is overtly in favor of the government. The agency was reformed after the regime change in 2011 with a specific mission to act as a voice of the GNA, promoting the agenda of the newly created government.
No domestic statute or independent assessment, or oversight mechanism that would validate WAL’s editorial independence has been identified through this project.
July 2024