Coverage includes local and international news, editorial opinion, sports and investigative journalism.

[1] The Samoa Observer was founded in 1978 by Editor in Chief, Savea Sano Malifa,[2] a poet and leading Pacific journalist who was awarded the prestigious Commonwealth Astor Award for press freedom in 1998.

[3] The independent paper has received other awards for investigative journalism and press freedom.

[3] The main offices are located in Apia, the country's capital.

In 1994, the paper's offices were destroyed in a fire after official corruption stories.