Iran’s then-Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani enter a hall for a joint news conference, in Tehran, Iran, July 6, 2022. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

CNN’s latest series, produced in its new Doha-based studio, is causing quite a stir.

Not only has the first installment of CNN Creators been panned by viewers for its “cringiness” and seeming lack of journalistic depth, but it is also raising questions about the relationship between the American news network and the Qatari state.

As reported by Eliana Johnson and Collin Anderson of The Washington Free Beacon, CNN Creators is the first show to be aired from the network’s new studio, in a media complex located in the Qatari capital and funded by the emirate.

When CNN first announced its move to Media City in February 2025, it told The Free Beacon that Qatar would fund “facilities and technical support” while CNN would maintain editorial control over the content that is produced there. The network also clarified that any sponsored content would be labeled as such.

At the time, these claims appeared naive, if not downright laughable. Qatar has strict rules concerning what can and cannot be broadcast in its country. In particular, there is a heavy restriction on the airing of criticism of the government or publishing items that the state deems “harmful.”

Due to its repressive nature, Freedom House’s 2025 profile gave Qatar a “1 out of 4” rating for media independence, which contributed to it being designated as “not free” and at the lower end of Freedom House’s rankings (below Iraq and Pakistan, and just above Haiti and Djibouti).

Even during the 2022 soccer World Cup, Qatar placed various restrictions on foreign journalists covering the event from inside the emirate. One can only imagine the editorial restrictions that would be placed on foreign journalists who open up a permanent bureau there.

Meet CNN Creators, the completely, totally, absolutely not sponsored in any way new show from a “team of digital-native storytellers as they navigate the stories that matter most.”

— Eliana Johnson (@elianayjohnson) October 29, 2025

Now that the first episode of CNN’s Qatar-based broadcast has aired, it appears that qualms about the legendary American network basing itself in a repressive state like Qatar were well-justified.

Its flagship program, CNN Creators, focuses on four relatively unknown, young, and hip CNN journalists marveling at all that the Qatari capital has to offer in such overt displays of fawning that it would make Walter Duranty blush.

Is this journalism or a Qatari tourism advertisement for the TikTok generation?

Of course the Qatari-funded, Doha-based CNN office is producing sycophantic content like this.

There is no free media in Qatar. https://t.co/2uP4so93RP pic.twitter.com/HcGy0x5XlV

— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) October 29, 2025

Aside from its “infantilizing” content, CNN’s Doha studio broadcast raises several key questions for the network and Western journalism at large:

• Can CNN truly maintain editorial independence while broadcasting content from a repressive state like Qatar?
• Will CNN’s Doha-based coverage only show a positive side of Qatar, or will it also deal with the dark side of the emirate, such as modern-day slavery and support for terror groups like Hamas?
• Will the existence of the Doha studio influence CNN’s programming outside of Qatar? Will coverage of Israel, Saudi Arabia, or any other topic in which it has an interest promote a Qatar-friendly narrative?
• CNN appears to be the first major Western outlet to set itself up in the government-sponsored Media City. Will other American and Western news organizations follow?

These are all important questions that must be reckoned with by those who support independent journalism.

With Qatar continually extending its influence in the United States and around the world, can we continue to trust CNN and other potential media partners of Qatar to publish independent content, or will they become watered-down versions of state propaganda outlets like Al Jazeera and Russia Today?

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.