Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)
Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) was established on October 6, 1976 by a decree of law. Today, it occupies a distinguished position among the world’s biggest news agencies. The aims of the Agency were defined as working to furnish news and broadcast it to information establishments and individuals. The idea was to provide the audience with an objective, unbiased and reliable news service, and to present Kuwait’s just causes regionally and internationally.

The Agency’s headquarters are located on Jahra Road in Shuwaikh district. KUNA began its Arabic language news service within Kuwait on March 11, 1978, transmitting for six hours a day in two shifts, in the morning and the evening. On June 10, 1978, transmission was increased to 12 hours a day, and on October 14, 1978, to 16 hours.

On November 15, 1978, KUNA began its external news service in Arabic for three hours a day, which was later extended to 12 hours a day. On February 15, 1979 external transmission was increased to 16 hours a day. In November 1979, KUNA began offering a news service for Kuwaiti embassies and consulates abroad. The Arabic bulletin (both internal and external) transmitted about 20,000 news items in 1978, and increased this to an average of about 50,000 news items a year in 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987.

In December 1994, KUNA introduced the Personal News Service, a 24-hour phone-in service that provides the latest local and international news. In 1999, with a strength of 365 employees, the Agency produced about 72,500 news items on its Arabic and English news bulletins. Kuna is an active and effective member in the Arab News Agencies Federation and the Gulf News Agency, supplementing its broadcasting services, with booklets on political and economic research and national issues.

The administrative body of the agency comprises nine departments, each of which has its own specialization. KUNA has the following bureaus in 17 countries: Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Damascus, Amman, Cairo, Tunis, Moscow, London, Paris, Rome, Brussels, Berlin, Geneva, Washington and New York. KUNA has full-time correspondents stationed in Muscat, Madrid, Sarajevo and Tehran, and part-time correspondents in Algiers, Doha, Islamabad, Khartoum and Vienna. KUNA has recently opened a bureau office in New Delhi.

KUNA also publishes news bulletins on local, territorial, Arabic, and international events. It participates in local and international exhibits and provides political and informative symposia and press conferences for visitors to the State of Kuwait.

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