Silencing America's Voice in the Middle East
The tariff story is big. But whats even bigger? Irans nuclear program. Onthe eve of President Trumps negotiations with Iran, America is about to unilaterally disarm in the war of information and ideas. It makes no sense.
Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN),the company I lead, will beforced to close as soon as next week. Congress approved our funding on March 14. Hours later,ourfunding was abruptly and unwisely cut off by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This was done with the apparent approval of Kari Lake, special adviser to the umbrella agency that oversees my company, as well as Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and Radio Free Asia. These networks provide honest news to tens of millions of people around the world.We are U.S.-funded. And were being starved of resources.
Since the release of the Heritage Foundations Project 2025, we at MBN have been expecting proposals for reform. Instead, were getting chain-sawed.
MBN had already started restructuring. We slashed spending last fall by 25%. We closed bureaus in the region. We upped our game in technology and AI. We were prepared to do more.Media in the Middle East thrive on a diet of anti-Americanism. MBN isthe U.S.-funded Arabic language alternative.
Thanks now to the administrations knee-jerk andirresponsible decision,Americas adversaries - including Islamic extremists- suddenly have an open field.
Make no mistake: Iran is the big winner in all this. Tehrans proxies across the Middle East can crow about the collapse of American "soft power." Iranian-backed militia in the region already deride our U.S.-funded journalists as"lap dogs."Now they can add to their slurs that we are in ignominious retreat.
Does it matter? We think so. The soft power of open information and honest news has long been a strong complement to the economic tools (both sanctions and rewards) as well as to American military might. Through digital platforms and television, MBN reaches more than 30 million people each week across the Middle East and North Africa. We counter anti-American narratives. We show people the value of independent, uncensored, and responsible media. Is this all too subtle for todays emotive politics? We dont think so. At MBN, we support American foreign policy goals for the price of two Apache helicopters.
This week, our overseer, Kari Lake, was detailed to the State Department. Its hard to know what Elon Musk has against us. Musk has called our federal oversight agency-the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM)-"DOPE,"the Department of Propaganda Everywhere." Not so amusing, considering the stakes. Those of us involved in explaining America to the world believe that whats dopey is abandoning a model that has worked so well to democracys benefit.
We advance American interests and values. Reform and restructure, sure. Annihilation on a whim?
Gutting U.S.-sponsored international media will not help make America great again. At this very moment, when the United States engages Iran on its nuclear program, the last thing anyone should contemplate is unilateral disarmament in the information and ideas space of the violent and volatile Middle East.
Jeffrey Gedmin is president/CEO of Middle East Broadcasting Networks. He worked for a decade at the American Enterprise Institute and is a former president/CEO of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
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