Skip to main content

Entity Type: Domestic State-Affiliated Media

Narodnaya Gazeta

Narodnaya Gazeta (Народная газета) is the state-run newspaper of the Republic of Tajikistan, published weekly in Russian. Founded in 1925 as Sovetsky Tajikistan (Советский Таджикистан), it adopted its current name following Tajikistan’s independence in 1991. The newspaper covers general news, government policy, foreign policy, economics, and national development initiatives. The outlet should not be confused with the Russian-language Narodnaya Gazeta based in Belarus, which has close ties with the Russian regime of Vladimir Putin.

Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation

Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC), operating as Radio Pakistan, serves as Pakistan’s largest state media network under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting with approximately 80 broadcasting units housed in 32 broadcasting houses across the country. The corporation reaches 96 percent of Pakistan’s population and covers 90 percent of the nation’s territory through its extensive AM, SW, and FM stations, broadcasting in 29 national, regional, local and foreign languages with 119 daily news bulletins totaling 684 minutes. Established under the PBC Act-1973, the network functions as the government’s primary medium for disseminating policy initiatives while promoting Pakistan as a progressive Islamic democracy. PBC maintains significant digital presence with over 2.5 million Facebook followers, active Twitter and Instagram accounts, and a YouTube channel, positioning itself as the “Voice of Pakistan” both domestically and internationally.

Radio Television Senegalaise

Radio Télévision Sénégalaise (RTS) is Senegal’s principal public media organization, operating five television channels (RTS1-RTS5) and nine radio stations covering national, international, and regional audiences. RTS was established under Law No. 92-02 of 1992, replacing the former state broadcaster ORTS, which had operated since 1973. The broadcaster operates under the Ministry of Culture and Communication, with governance resting with a 12-member Management Council representing various government ministries. The Director General is appointed by the President of Senegal. Pape Alé Niang became Director General on April 24, 2024, replacing Racine Talla. RTS receives funding through license fees collected via electricity bills, state subsidies, and advertising revenues, with an estimated annual budget of XOF 11.3 billion (approximately US$20.8 million). The broadcaster’s editorial stance reflects its close government relationship, with no formal legal framework guaranteeing editorial independence.

Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), the country’s national news agency, was launched on January 1, 1972. The Dhaka bureau of the Associated Press of Pakistan was turned into the national news agency of the new country following the Bangladesh Liberation War. Beginning with a small staff in the head office in Dhaka and a bureau in Chittagong, BSS now has bureaus in Rajshahi, Rangpur, Bagura, Khulna, Barishal, Rangamati, and Sylhet, with correspondents in all 64 administrative districts. The agency functions almost around the clock to disseminate national, international, political, economic, development, and other news to nearly 50 subscribers across the country. BSS subscribes to international wire services AFP and exchanges news with Press Trust of India, Associated Press of Pakistan, Xinhua, Bernama of Malaysia, and TransData of Australia, and introduced a Bangla news service in 1999.

SOPECAM

SOPECAM (Société de Presse et d’Éditions du Cameroun/Cameroon News and Publishing Corporation) is Cameroon’s state-owned media corporation established in 1974. The corporation publishes multiple media outlets, including its flagship Cameroon Tribune bilingual daily newspaper, Cameroon Business Today, Cameroon Insider (an English-language publication launched in 2019), and magazines Nyanga and Weekend Sports et Loisirs. SOPECAM operates through regional agencies across Cameroon’s ten regions and has modernized its operations with digital platforms and online subscriptions. Led by General Manager Marie-Claire Nnana since 2002, the corporation transformed from a government enterprise to a public capital company in 2017. Beyond publishing, SOPECAM organizes initiatives like the CBT Champions Awards to promote youth entrepreneurship and “Made in Cameroon” products.

Radiotelevisione Italiana

Radiotelevisione Italiana, or RAI, is Italy’s state-owned public broadcaster founded in 1924 as Unione Radiofonica Italiana (URI) and becoming “RAI” in 1944. The group operates the nation’s largest television and radio network with a more than 30 percent market share, competing directly with the Mediaset empire of former Italian president Silvio Berlusconi. Headquartered at 14 Viale Giuseppe Mazzini in Rome, the company is 99 percent owned by Italy’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, funding operations through broadcast license fees and advertising revenue. RAI’s programming reaches beyond Italy’s borders into neighboring European countries, Albania, Tunisia and beyond via satellite, while its management and board are elected by Parliament every three years, ensuring close ties between the broadcaster and Italy’s ruling political majority.

Tanjug News Agency

Tanjug News Agency, founded on November 5, 1943, as Yugoslavia’s official state news agency, operated under government control until 2015 when authorities announced its closure and officially stopped funding it. Despite this announcement, the agency continued functioning in what it is described as a “legal vacuum” with funds from undisclosed sources. In 2021, the Belgrade-based private company Tacno acquired rights to Tanjug’s intellectual property and trademarks for a 10-year period. Tacno is owned by Radoica Milosavljevic of RTV Pancevo, characterized as “an openly pro-government station,” and Minacord Media. Local journalists interviewed in 2023 and 2024 claimed the government continued financing aspects of the agency’s operations despite denials from both Tanjug and state authorities. Critics characterized the agency as “notorious for its government-supportive content,” with its editorial policy reportedly unchanged following privatization.

Lao News Agency

Lao News Agency, known as “Khaosan Pathet Lao” , the official news agency of Laos, was established on 6 January 1968 in Viengsay, northern Houaphanh province, by the Neo Lao Haksat (Lao Patriotic Front). Initially staffed with only a dozen reporters and technicians, the agency served as a news provider for Pathet Lao radio and the Lao Haksat newspaper during the revolutionary period. KPL became the official national news agency after the Pathet Lao established the Lao People’s Democratic Republic on 2 December 1975. Operating primarily in Lao, English, and French, with headquarters in Vientiane, the state-owned organization maintains provincial branches nationwide and serves as the primary information source for domestic media outlets. The agency describes itself as dependent on government funding and operates within Laos’s single-party system under the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party.

Polish Television

Polish Television (波蘭國家電視台), known as Telewizja Polska or TVP, is Poland’s public service broadcaster established in 1952 as the country’s oldest and largest television network. The state-owned corporation previously operated under the Ministry of State Treasury of Poland, but since the ministry’s dissolution in 2017 has been overseen by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego). According to its statutory mission defined by Poland’s Broadcasting Act, TVP is obligated to implement “a public mission by offering various programs and other services in the field of information, journalism, culture, entertainment, education and sport, characterized by pluralism, impartiality, balance and independence.” After 2015, TVP was criticized by international observers for becoming a vehicle for the ruling Law and Justice party.