Private, public and state news agencies
Of — active agencies, — are public or state agencies, owned or funded by the state, and — are private, some very big with international reach, some national and some small specialist services. Among national agencies, — are public or state. How independent each one is from its government varies widely; the chart and table below show who appoints the management.
By region
Active agencies by structure. Click a segment to list those agencies below.
By kind of agency
Active agencies by structure. Click a segment to list those agencies below.
Who appoints the management
Active public / state agencies, by the body that appoints, elects or approves the head or board under the agency's law or statute. Where the government nominates and parliament votes the nominee into office, the agency is shown separately. "Not documented" = state-owned, but no appointment rule was found. Click a bar to list those agencies below.
Who owns them, by region
Active agencies by ownership type. Darker cells hold more agencies. "Legal form not confirmed" = state-owned, but whether it is a ministry unit or a separate company was not established.
| Region | Government body | State company / statutory body | State-owned, legal form not confirmed | Public-law institution | Party-owned | Inter-governmental | Private: media-owned | Private: commercial | Non-profit | Religious | Unknown | Total |
|---|
All agencies
Search or filter; click a column header to sort. Click a row with a logged change to see its history.
Ownership and funding changes
— changes in ownership, legal form or public funding are logged at — agencies, — of them since 2020. Since 2020 there were — moves toward state control, — increases and — cuts in public money, — privatisations or private owner changes, and — closures or announced closures.
When and in which direction
Each dot is one logged change, by year and direction. Hover for details; click a dot to open that agency's history below.
One agency's history
Pick an agency to see each change in order and its structure today.
Today: — · — · —
| When | Direction | From | To |
|---|
Direction of change by region
All logged changes, every year.
Change log
Every logged change with its source. "Official source" = agency, regulator, registry or government document; "Independent source" = State Media Monitor, encyclopaedia or press; "Not confirmed" = no source found for the date or detail.
| From | To |
|---|
Definitions and sources
How each agency was classified, what the change directions mean, and how far to trust each figure.
Structure
Public / state or private, by ownership. Counts are active agencies; the last column counts public / state agencies whose appointment rule is documented rather than inferred from ownership.
| Structure | Definition | Active |
|---|
Ownership types
Who owns or controls the agency. Counts are active agencies.
| Type | Definition | Active |
|---|
Directions of change
How each logged change is grouped in the timeline and filters.
How far to trust this
- Every one of the — agencies was checked one by one on 13 October 2026: — against an official source (the agency, a regulator, a company registry or a government document) and — against an independent source (State Media Monitor, an encyclopaedia or press). For — no source could confirm the owner or even that the agency still operates; they are marked "Not confirmed" and mostly have status "Unclear".
- Many private agencies rest on a single secondary source, often Wikipedia, and owner data can be several years old; the notes column says so where it matters.
- — of — logged changes have a date or detail that could not be confirmed; the rest cite a source.
- Public and state agencies are shown as one group because the line between them depends on law, practice and politics and could not be drawn consistently. "Management appointed by" records the formal rule only; it does not measure editorial independence. State Media Monitor's rating is shown when hovering that column.
- — active public / state agencies have no documented appointment rule; they are counted from state ownership alone.
- Shares of income from public money are not shown. Published figures use different bases (budget grant, public-service contract, planned or executed budget, expert estimate) and years, and could not be compared reliably.
- The change log holds what the sources record. An agency with no entry may still have changed owner or funding, especially smaller private ones.
Sources cited
Websites cited for agencies and logged changes. State Media Monitor (Media and Journalism Research Center) profiles are the main source for state agencies.
| Website | Agencies | Changes |
|---|
Researched and compiled with AI assistance (Claude), checked row by row against the sources listed under "Definitions and sources", and reviewed by me. Agencies checked on 13 October 2026; classification updated on 16 October 2026. You can download the data: agencies (CSV) and changes (CSV).