Since its establishment under Royal Decree No 39/86 of 29 May 1986, the Oman News Agency, official source of news for the Sultanate, has been a significant implementer of Oman’s media policies, derived broadly from the vision of His late Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said in the past and of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik today, and expressed in the mandate assigned to it at its foundation by Royal Decree.

The agency has been active locally, regionally and externally, and constantly measures its own performance against a rising standard. It has done much to enlighten the public with its briefings on local and foreign events, priding itself on publishing only accurate, verified news through its local and international network of sources.

As part of its brief, the agency covers local events and activities, political, economic and development-related, as well as reporting general news. It conveys the Sultanate’s positions on diverse issues of significance and distributes news, features, photographic images and other material to media channels in both Arabic and English.

As its reach and influence have grown, ONA has assigned correspondents to locations throughout the Sultanate, whence they cover local news for the agency. It also supports a network of correspondents in Arab and international capitals who provide the agency with breaking developments and background coverage, as exemplified in its valuable sabq service, which has earned the Omani agency plaudits among its peers at home and abroad.

It makes strategic use of social networking sites to deliver its news and photo services to followers. In 2021, the agency added print and visual reports, viz. the Governorates bulletin, the Culture bulletin, the Sports bulletin, the International bulletin, and the Economy bulletin.