Years of civil unrest and war have changed Yemen’s media landscape for the worse. Yemen’s media situation disintegrated in 2015 when the Houthi rebels took control of Sana’a, the capital. In the North, the circulation of press associated with President Hadi was blocked and discouraged. Journalists were targeted, arrested, or kidnapped (Yemen Media Landscape). The Yemeni press was, and still is, under threat from all sides and journalists have a difficult time reporting amidst the war zone.
The Freedom House press freedom rating states that Yemen’s media is not free. Houthi rebels block and censor any existing media outlets that they do not own. Journalists who are brave enough to continue working have to play a game – they either support or are against the government and face a dangerous road by taking either side. They risk their lives covering the war. Amnesty International and other organizations have published letters urging Houthi rebels to release innocent journalists who are being held without a charge or trial (Freedom House). Many journalists in Yemen have been killed in Saudi air-raids that are fighting the Houthis (BBC).
TV and radio are the dominate media scene in Yemen. Since the outbreak of war, many publications have stopped publishing physical newspapers. There are no more English-language publications (BBC). The State TV is stuck between rebel Houthis and the Hadi government – they each have their own version of two main channels: Yemen TV and Aden TV (Yemen Media Landscape). Private satellite TVs operate either inside Yemen or from abroad and some Yemen citizens can reach a signal. According to the BBC, in 2017, there were 6.9 million internet users. There is only one internet service provider, it is state run and is shut down constantly by the Houthi-controlled Communications Ministry. All anti-Houthi content is filtered (BBC).
A list of Yemeni news outlets:
Newspapers:
- Al-Thawrah – (The Revolution), government-owned daily, under Houthi control
- Al-Yaman al-Yawm (Yemen Today) – associated with family of late ex-President Saleh
- Sada al-Masirah – Houthi newspaper
Television:
- Republic of Yemen Television – pro-Houthi and pro-Hadi versions of the state TV are on the air
- Yemen Today – private, supported late former president Saleh
- Suhayl TV – pro-Islamist, via satellite
- Al-Masirah (The March) – Houthi TV, operates from Beirut
- Al-Sa’idah (The Happy One) – popular entertainment-based satellite network broadcasting from Egypt
Radio:
- Republic of Yemen Radio – state-run; Sanaa-based operations are under Houthi control
Websites/News Agencies
- Yemen News Agency (Saba) – state-run, English-language pages
- Marebpress – popular privately-run news site
- Al-Tagheer – (Change), privately-run news site
- Yemen Portal – news aggregator
(BBC)
Media in the Middle East 