US-funded Arabic network Alhurra ends broadcasts after Trump’s aid cuts

By AFP
April 14, 2025
A TV displays the Alhurra Iraq logo in the lobby of the headquarters of the network after its launch in 2004 at its office in Springfield, Virginia. —AFP/File
A TV displays the Alhurra Iraq logo in the lobby of the headquarters of the network after its launch in 2004 at its office in Springfield, Virginia. —AFP/File

WASHINGTON: Alhurra, the Arabic-language network created by the US government after the Iraq invasion, said on Sunday it would cease broadcasts and lay off most staff after US President Donald Trump’s administration shut off funds.

The network went on air in 2004, when US officials were complaining about coverage of the Iraq war from Qatar-backed Al Jazeera — which two decades later maintains a dominant role in Arabic-language media.

“Media in the Middle East thrive on a diet of anti-Americanism,” said Jeffrey Gedmin, president and CEO of Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), the parent of Alhurra and other smaller US-funded Arabic-language outlets.

Gedmin added in a statement that It made “no sense to kill MBN” as a sensible alternative and to open the field to American adversaries and extremists.The Trump administration, in part of a sweeping cost-cutting drive led by billionaire Elon Musk, in March said it was ceasing all financial transfers for US government-supported media.

The move quickly froze Voice of America, although its employees have mounted legal challenges to restore the funding, which was approved by Congress.In a memo to staff, Gedmin said that Kari Lake, a firebrand Trump supporter put in charge of the agency supervising US-funded media, had refused to see him to discuss the “unlawfully” withdrawn funds.

“I’m left to conclude that she is deliberately starving us of the money we need to pay you, our dedicated and hard-working staff,” he wrote.“What’s happening is a disgrace. You deserve better and I bear responsibility for not resolving this crisis in time to keep you,” said Gedmin, a veteran scholar of democracy.

Alhurra will cease broadcasts but seek to maintain digital updates through a staff reduced to “a couple dozen”, he wrote.Alhurra says it reaches more than 30 million people each week across 22 countries.But it has faced stiff competition from Al Jazeera as well as Al Arabiya, which is funded by Saudi Arabia, and more recently UAE-backed Sky News Arabia.