US silences its own voice in Middle East media

Boston Globe

08-04-2025

Iran has tentacles spread across the Middle East through multiple terror groups, of course.
And America? We're just about to abdicate our broadcasting place in the Mideast. Against the blare of propaganda, the United States had a rare voice of reason and fought back — until now.
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Congressionally funded Middle East Broadcasting Networks and its 24/7 television and digital platforms, called Alhurra — 'The Free One' — are followed by millions in the Arab world who want to hear America's side, too. MBN reports on the American angle of news stories, pushing back against the caricatures and conspiracy.
And now this lone American viewpoint
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On March 14, Congress
Yet hours later, this funding was abruptly cut off by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency and newly appointed special adviser Kari Lake, who directs the agency that oversees us, the US Agency for Global Media.
All of us in international broadcasting have reckoned with reform, restructure, and reduction. Closing the Middle East Broadcasting Networks will not make America great again. This in a region critical to President Trump's foreign policy agenda.
Hamas, Hezbollah, and Houthis are licking their chops. 'Their soft power has failed,' sneered an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq after the news of MBN's closure was made public.
No wonder they hate MBN. We're credible and convincing. For the American taxpayer, we're cost efficient.
Nearly a year ago, we began a transformation process. We parted with 200 employees, reduced company costs by 25 percent — and saved our funder, the American taxpayer, $20 million annually. We were preparing for additional cuts, smart and strategic ones, when we received the notice that MBN was to be shuttered. MBN today is the price of two Apache helicopters, or about $104 million.
What a strange, bewildering mess.
A unique, 24/7 US-funded, Arabic language television and digital media company that, in a given week, reaches as many as 34 million people across 22 countries in the Middle East and North Africa is being silenced by our own side.
If people in the Middle East hear about an America that is not an enemy but an ally and — whatever the blemishes — a beacon of democracy, America wins. But we're close now to a scenario where everyone loses. And in losing, that means America first.
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