MENA (news)

Middle East News Agency
Wakalt Inbaa al Sharq al Awsat[1]
Agency overview
Jurisdiction Egyptian government
Headquarters Cairo
Parent agency Ministry of Information
Website Middle East News Agency

MENA or Middle East News Agency is a news agency based in Egypt. It is run by the Egyptian government.

History and profile

The MENA was founded on 15 December 1955 as a joint stock company owned by Egyptian press establishments.[2] The agency, based in Cairo,[3] began its operations on 28 February 1956.[4] The owner of the agency became the Egyptian government in 1962.[4] In 1978, the agency's owner became the Shura Council.[4] In 1980, a board of directors was established and began to run the agency.[4] It was later attached to the ministry of information.[4]

Mustafa Naguib is among the former chiefs of the agency.[5] Mahfuz Al Ansari also served in the post.[6] In July 2005 he was replaced by Abdullah Hassan as editor-in-chief.[6] In June 2014, Alaa Heidar was appointed editor-in-chief of the agency.[7]

The agency had cooperation with nearly 25 news agencies in the 1990s.[4] It offers news in three languages, namely Arabic, English and French.[8][9]

It has following six major services:[8] (1) Local Arabic news of which target audience is those subscribers living in Egypt and covers political, social, economic, culture and sports news in the Arab world, Middle East and internationally. (2) Press services which include features news analysis, and photo services and international sectors such as culture, art, science, sports and history. (3) Publications in Print which informs the subscribers about printed daily, biweekly and weekly. (4) Cairo Press Review which is a daily English-language publication, offering news published in the Egyptian newspapers. (5) Party Press Review news which is a biweekly publication in English about the main news published in the party newspapers in Egypt and (6) The MEN (Economic Magazine) which is a weekly English publication and offers the main economic news concerning those who are part of the economy of Egypt.[8]

On 5 February 2014 the agency started a news website, called Bawabet Sharq Al Awsat.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Myung-Jin Park; James Curran (2000). De-Westernizing Media Studies. Psychology Press. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-415-19394-8. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  2. ↑ Historical Background MENA. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  3. ↑ "Chronology: Egypt". The Middle East Journal 54 (3). Summer 2000. Retrieved 3 January 2014. – via Questia (subscription required)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Yahya R. Kamalipour; Hamid Mowlana (1994). Mass Media in the Middle East: A Comprehensive Handbook. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Retrieved 3 January 2014. – via Questia (subscription required)
  5. ↑ James J. Napoli (August 1995). "Cairo Communique: New Press Law Alienates Mubarak's Media Supporters". Washington Report on Middle East Affairs XI (2). Retrieved 3 January 2014. – via Questia (subscription required)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Egypt axes media moguls". News24. 4 July 2005. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  7. ↑ "Egypt: Press Council Appoints Editors of State-Owned Newspapers". Aswat Masriya (Cairo). 28 June 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Egypt. Media Landscape". European Journalism Centre. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  9. ↑ Country profile - Egypt Journalism Network. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  10. ↑ "Media Situation in Egypt: Tenth report for the period January and February 2014" (Report). Al Sawt Al Hurr. 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.