US President Donald Trump's administration has informed the Middle East Broadcasting Networks of the termination of a grant agreement, part of deep cuts to government-run, pro-democracy programming.
The MBN is an Arabic-language media organisation comprised of Alhurra TV, and several news and culture websites, including Maghreb Voices. It was funded by the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) with $106.59 million annually.
The MBN said in a message to its staff it had received a letter from Kari Lake, the administration's senior adviser to USAGM, informing the networks they are "no longer worth funding".
"Congress approved our funding for the rest of the fiscal year through a continuing resolution."
Based in the US state of Virginia, Alhurra began broadcasting in February 2004 as part of a US effort to connect with audiences in the Middle East amid rising anti-American sentiment following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It aims to "accurately represent America, Americans and American policies" and engage in independent journalism, the MBN website says.
Last September, the MBN cut 160 jobs at Alhurra and said it was merging Alhurra Iraq with Alhurra TV "to provide viewers with the best of both networks".
On Friday night, shortly after Congress passed its latest funding bill, Mr Trump directed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law. That included the USAGM.
The USAGM also terminated grants for Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which broadcasts to countries in Eastern Europe, including Russia and Ukraine, as well as for Radio Free Asia, which broadcasts to China and North Korea.
"Today, in compliance with President Trump’s Executive Order titled 'Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy', dated March 14, 2025, the US Agency for Global Media initiated measures to eliminate the non-statutory components and functions to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law," Ms Lake said in a statement.
"USAGM and the outlets it oversees will be reduced to their statutory functions and associated personnel will be reduced to the minimum presence and function required by law," she said.
"This action will impact the agency’s workforce at USAGM, Voice of America, Office of Cuba Broadcasting, and all grantees. Most USAGM staff affected by this action will be placed on paid administrative leave beginning Saturday, March 15, 2025, and remain on leave until further notice."
On Saturday morning, Ms Lake posted on X that employees should check their email. That coincided with notices placing Voice of America staff on paid administrative leave.
The press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said it “condemns this decision as a departure from the US’s historic role as a defender of free information and calls on the US government to restore VOA and urges Congress and the international community to take action against this unprecedented move”.
Michael Abramowitz, Voice of America's director, said nearly his entire staff of 1,300 journalists, producers and assistants had been put on administrative leave, crippling a media broadcaster that operates in almost 50 languages. On Sunday, mass layoffs began at VOA and other US-funded media.
Thomas Kent, former president and chief executive of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, said Mr Trump’s intentions for the agencies were unclear. Without these news sources, it would be much harder for the country to get its messages to the world, he said.
“Without the international broadcasting, the image of the United States and the Trump administration will be in the hands of others, including the administration’s opponents, countries and people who consider the United States an enemy,” said Mr Kent, an international consultant on media ethics.
A video posted on X by Ms Lake on Saturday referred to cost-cutting measures, not mentioning the employees and the mission of Voice of America. The footage was made at a building leased by VOA that Ms Lake described as a waste of money.
She said she would try to break the agency's 15-year lease on the building. “We're doing everything we can to cancel contracts that can be cancelled, save more, downsize and make sure there's no misuse of your dollars,” she said.
The Trump administration has already taken other steps to assert its authority over VOA, last week cancelling contracts that allowed it to use material from independent news organisations, such as the Associated Press.
The administration has also banned the AP from press pools that cover the President and moved to take charge of which news organisations are members of the pools. The Federal Communications Commission is investigating news organisations such as CBS.
Mr Trump's order requiring reductions includes several other, less-known government agencies, such as the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars, a non-partisan think tank, the US Interagency Council on Homelessness and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.