Eritrea's news sources in Tigrinya, Arabic and English: the state's Shabait and Eri-TV, exile outlets such as Awate and Asmarino Independent, and the BBC and VOA Tigrinya services — with direct links to each.
State Media
Official Eritrean government Ministry of Information
Independent and Exile Media
Digital and TV
Sports
News Agencies
Online News Sites
Frequently asked questions
- In what languages is Eritrean news published?
- Eritrean news sources publish in Tigrinya, Arabic and English — led by the official Haddas Ertra and the English-language Eritrea Profile.
- Is there an independent press inside Eritrea?
- Private media has been banned in Eritrea since 2001, so most independent Eritrean outlets publish from the diaspora.
- What is the official source of Eritrean news?
- The Ministry of Information's Shabait platform is the official outlet of the Eritrean state.
Eritrea has one of the world's most restricted media environments, serving 3.5 million people in a Horn of Africa nation that has consistently ranked last or near-last in global press freedom indices — earning it the label "the North Korea of Africa" from some human rights organisations. Since independence from Ethiopia in 1993, Eritrea has operated an entirely state-controlled domestic press, with all independent media banned since 2001 and dozens of journalists imprisoned for decades without trial.
All domestic media is state-controlled, led by Shabait and Eri-TV. For independent coverage, the exile media ecosystem is crucial: Awate is the most respected independent analysis site, Asmarino Independent is a long-running opposition portal, and ASENA TV is a diaspora-based Tigrinya satellite channel. BBC Tigrinya and VOA Tigrinya are the most trusted external services. Unusually, Eritrea is world-renowned for cycling — producing Tour de France stage winners — covered by Shabait Sports.
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