Samoa news, front pages compared
Crosswire tracks 4 major Samoa news outlets. Preview their homepages side by side below — switch between two, three and four columns, go compact, or translate every page into your language.
The Samoa media landscape on Crosswire
Crosswire lays Samoa's front pages next to one another so you can see which stories lead where, how headlines are framed, and what one outlet foregrounds that another leaves out. All 4 titles tracked in Samoa sit near the editorial centre in our classification, which is common where the press is dominated by public broadcasters and agencies, or where no confident left/right rating was available. Comparison here is less about political line than about which stories each newsroom judges worth the top of the page.
By kind of outlet, the 4 titles break down as 2 digital-native outlets (Talamua and Samoa Global News) and 2 daily newspapers (Samoa Observer and Savali). Crosswire lists no public-service broadcaster for Samoa, so the fixed point in a comparison has to be a wire service or the most widely read daily instead.
Samoa sits in Polynesia, on Crosswire's Oceania hub. By outlets tracked it is 1st of the 2 countries in Polynesia and 5th of the 8 across Oceania, where the average is 4 outlets per country. Its neighbours in Polynesia with hubs of their own are Tonga (3).
Leaning groupings are approximate guides drawn from widely cited media-bias assessments — see the methodology and what the labels can and can't tell you. Counts are taken from the directory as of .
Which are Samoa's main news outlets?
Across Samoa's editorial spectrum, Crosswire currently lists near the center, Samoa Observer, Talamua, Samoa Global News and Savali. Each outlet below links to a full profile — its facts, editorial leaning and a live front-page preview — and the comparison view above shows any of them side by side.
Samoa's newspaper of record, founded in 1978 by writer and publisher Savea Sano Malifa. Published in Apia in English and Samoan, the Observer is known for independent reporting and editorials that have repeatedly tested official tolerance, winning international press freedom recognition. It covers politics, courts, village affairs and the Samoan diaspora.
Talamua Online News is the digital arm of Talamua Media, an Apia publishing house led by veteran journalist Apulu Lance Polu. One of Samoa's longest-running independent online news services, it reports in English on politics, business, sport and culture, drawing on decades of local magazine and radio journalism.
An Apia-based digital outlet launched in the late 2010s that has grown into one of Samoa's most-followed news sources, particularly on social media. Samoa Global News reports in English and Samoan on national politics, health, courts and community stories, serving readers in Samoa and the large Samoan communities in New Zealand, Australia and the United States.
The Government of Samoa's own newspaper, first published in 1904 and among the oldest publications in the Pacific. Produced by the government press office in Samoan and English, Savali carries official announcements, development news and coverage of state events; its website extends what was traditionally a print gazette-style paper.
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Reading the news critically
The vocabulary and the method behind these comparisons.