# State media in Somalia: SONNA, Radio Mogadishu, SNTV, Radio Hargeisa and Puntland TV > The government-owned news agency, radio and television stations of Somalia, Somaliland and Puntland: when each began, who runs them and what they broadcast. Source page: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/state-media/ Last checked: 2026-11-12 Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com) ## What it is Somalia's governments own several of the country's oldest media outlets. At the federal level they sit under the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism. [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) run their own state broadcasters. For private radio, TV, websites and press freedom, see [Media in Somalia](/en/society/media-in-somalia/). ## Federal state media ### SONNA, the Somali National News Agency - **Founded:** 5 January 1964, as the state news agency under the Ministry of Information in Mogadishu. It marked its 60th anniversary in January 2024 ([SONNA, 60th anniversary](https://sonna.so/en/celebrating-six-decades-of-journalism-somalia-national-news-network-sonna-marks-its-60th-anniversary/); [Horn Observer](https://hornobserver.com/articles/1938/Somalia-National-News-Agency-celebrates-59th-founding-anniversary)). - **Before 1991:** it had offices in all 18 regions until the central government collapsed (same SONNA source). - **After 1991:** its work stopped in 1990 to 1991 and the federal government relaunched it in 2011 ([State Media Monitor](https://statemediamonitor.com/?p=5625)). - **Today:** it publishes news in Somali and English at sonna.so, including the decisions of the federal cabinet and the statements of the President and Prime Minister. ### Radio Mogadishu (Radio Muqdisho) - **Founded:** 1951, under the UN trusteeship, broadcasting news in Somali and Italian. After independence in 1960 it was modernised with Soviet help and added services in Amharic and Oromo ([Radio Mogadishu, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Mogadishu)). - **1991 to 2001:** it closed when the civil war began, and the [Transitional National Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) reopened it on 23 August 2001 (same source). - **Archives:** in 2013 it began digitising its archive of recordings going back to 1951 (same source). - **Today:** it calls itself "the voice of the Republic of Somalia" (Codka Jamhuuriyadda) and publishes news in Somali and English at radiomuqdisho.so ([Radio Muqdisho](https://www.radiomuqdisho.so/)). ### Somali National Television (SNTV) - **Founded:** regular TV began on 17 August 1983, funded by [Kuwait](/en/diaspora/kuwait/) and the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/), with two hours a day in Somali and Arabic, and three on Fridays and holidays. Reception was limited to Mogadishu ([Somali National Television, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Television)). - **Relaunch:** after 20 years off air, test broadcasts began on 18 March 2011 and the channel officially relaunched on 4 April 2011. It now broadcasts 24 hours a day, on land transmitters and by satellite (same source). - **Today:** news, regional reports from each member state, programmes on history, poetry and the diaspora, at sntv.so ([SNTV](https://sntv.so/)). ## Somaliland state media Somaliland declared independence in 1991; Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025, and most states and the African Union regard it as part of Somalia. Its government runs: - **Radio Hargeisa (Radio Hargeysa):** founded in 1943 in [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) as the first Somali-language station. It broadcasts mostly in Somali, with news bulletins in Amharic, Arabic and English, from the Ministry of Information in Hargeisa. It spread the *balwo* songs of [Abdi Sinimo](/en/people/abdi-sinimo/) and the *heello* music of [Abdullahi Qarshe](/en/people/abdullahi-qarshe/) ([Radio Hargeisa, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Hargeysa)). See [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/). - **Somaliland National Television (SLNTV):** began broadcasting on 20 July 2005, before the parliamentary election of 29 September 2005, first from a 1.5 kW transmitter in Hargeisa and later by satellite. During that campaign the election monitors criticised its coverage as favouring the ruling party ([Somaliland National TV, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_National_TV)). ## Puntland state media - **Puntland TV and Radio (PLTV):** set up in April 2013 under President [Abdirahman Farole](/en/people/abdirahman-farole/), and run by Puntland's Ministry of Information from Garoowe, with an office in [London](/en/diaspora/london/). It broadcasts on land and by satellite, and Radio Puntland also uses shortwave ([Puntland TV and Radio, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puntland_TV_and_Radio)). - **Directors (same source):** Ahmed Mohamed Kismayo (2013 to 2014), Abdifatah Nur Ashkir (2014 to 2016), Jamal Arab Yusuf (2016 to 2020), Dahir Afloow, and Abdifatah Nur Ashkir again from 2020. ## Who regulates the media The federal media law of 9 January 2016 set up a Media Council to oversee the sector. In March 2024 the Minister of Information appointed six of its nine members ([Landinfo, 2016](https://landinfo.no/asset/3568/1/3568_1.pdf); [RSF](https://rsf.org/en/somalia)). The federal statistics bureau's yearly count of violations against journalists shows detentions as 71.4 percent of recorded cases, killings 10.7 percent and attacks on media outlets 7.1 percent ([SNBS, Facts and Figures 2024, Table 2.25](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)). ## How to use them - **Official statements:** SONNA publishes federal cabinet decisions and appointments in English and Somali. - **Old recordings:** Radio Mogadishu and Radio Hargeisa hold the oldest Somali broadcast archives. ## Its legal basis Federal Media Law of 2016; the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism oversees SONNA, Radio Mogadishu and SNTV. Somaliland's and Puntland's ministries of information oversee their broadcasters. --- I want to help with this: email hello@calankii.com. Fix this page: email hello@calankii.com with the page link and your source.