Shafaqna (Persian: شفقنا; International Shia News AssociationorShia News Agency) is one of the main international[citation needed] Shia news-gathering organisations. It focuses on news relating to Shia Islam. It started its activities on Friday, February 24, 2012.[1] It is an independent medium implemented in English, French, Spanish, Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Urdu, Azerbaijani and Russian. Material in Arabic is produced out of Najaf, Iraq, Persian from Tehran, Iran, Turkish from Istanbul, Turkey, and English from the UK.[2][3][4] Shafaqna has also launched independent pages in Pakistan, India, Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Shafaqna says it covers all Islamic and specifically Shia events and activities across the world, to inaugurate dialogues between Shia Islam and other faiths and religions in a peacebuilding manner.[5]
Shafaqna is closely connected to the Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the highest ranking Shia jurist in Iraq, and has published several articles about his doctrine.[6] Shafaqna also publishes Sistani's fatwas frequently.[7] It has ties to the Najaf seminary[8] and exclusive news of Sistani.[9][10][11]
In June 2014, Shafaqna launched a chain of news readers called Lnews (Latest World News by Country - Independent World News Platform). Its English version is called Enews (Internation News Agencies headlines). Shafaqna Multilingual News Reader originated as an Internet-based news aggregator, so the text which appears on the chain of websites is made up of a list of items and contents presented in RSS feeds offered by news gathering organisations and websites across the world using automatic input devices.[12] It operates mainly in English, Arabic, Persian, Spanish, French, Urdu, Dutch, and Chinese.
As presented on its front page, the chain of news readers operated by Shafaqna cover more than 100 countries. Its news and articles originally come from a range of global, regional and national news agencies, newspapers, and local web based news media from AP, AFP, EFE, and ReuterstoCNN, BBC, CCTV, Kyodo, Xinhua, PRESS TV, IRIB, SPA and Itar-Tass.[13]
On March 29, 2024, Shafaqna English announced the initiation of a content creation strategy that integrates both Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Human Intelligence (HI). This approach utilizes AI to generate initial drafts based on carefully selected questions aimed at providing valuable insights. Subsequently, the platform's team engages in careful revision, editing, and proofreading processes to ensure the content's quality and relevance. This strategy is designed to enrich the platform with diverse content while maintaining journalistic integrity and transparency. Shafaqna insists that its method of adopting AI and HI in content creation complies with ethical codes and represents advancement in the fields of journalism. [14]
