[5][6] ARA News was supported by Free Press Unlimited, a media development organisation based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

The founder and chief editor is Adib Abdulmajid,[9] a Syrian Kurd who fled Syria after taking part in pro-democracy activities, and sought asylum in the Netherlands.

[1] ARA News was supported by Free Press Limited, whose mission statement is that "People deserve to know."

[7] ARA is an abbreviation of the Kurdish Ajansa Rojnamevaniya Azad, meaning "Independent Press Agency".

[12] In 2015 ARA News became one of the first 20 signatories of the Ethical Charter for Syrian Media, "an alliance of significant independent Syrian media organisations committed to the highest standards of journalism and unimpeded freedom of speech" established under Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency sponsorship.