The financial arrangement raises concerns about the network’s ability to report freely on the Gulf state and the region

The CNN news network announced Sunday its plan to open a new operation in Qatar, a significant move to increase its presence in the Middle East, and expand Doha's reach as one of media hubs in the region.

CNN’S presence in Qatar will complement its existing Middle East programming and news gathering hubs and CNN’s flagship headquarters in the region. The latter are located in Abu Dhabi, that is home to “Connect the World with Becky Anderson,” and Dubai, the base for CNN Arabic, plus CNN’s bureaus across the region.

CNN has signed an agreement with Media City Qatar to expand the network’s operations in the Middle East in the second half of 2025. The new operation in the State of Qatar will aim to deepen CNN’s global and regional content creation capabilities.