CNN’s editor-in-chief, Mark Thompson, offered a glowing assessment of Qatar on Thursday at the news network’s Global Perspectives forum in Doha, praising the Gulf country as a steady partner for diplomacy and innovation despite its lack of press freedoms, record of human rights abuses and sponsorship of Hamas. 

Speaking on Thursday morning, Thompson acknowledged that the region has not always been in the news for “positive reasons,” pointing to ongoing conflicts and geopolitical tensions. But he said the summit offered a chance to emphasize that Qatar “stands for growth, for innovation and for trying to nurture and build human potential.” 

He added that the country, which is a major non-NATO ally of the United States and has served as a mediator in Middle East conflicts, “has kept alive the path of diplomacy and dialogue in quite dark times, not just to end conflict, but to provide a foundation for a better, more prosperous, more collaborative future.”

The Middle East speaker series in the capital of Doha comes a year and a half after CNN announced its plans to launch a network hub in Qatar, deepening its ties to the Gulf state. 

Speakers at the daylong summit include Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the head of Qatar Museums who last month promoted a divisive exhibition at the Venice Biennale on Gaza, and Martin Griffiths, the former head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs who faced criticism for a 2024 interview in which he said that Hamas was “not a terrorist group for us.” 

CNN is among several media companies, including The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, that have expanded their business relationships with Qatar — even as the Gulf state has faced scrutiny for its lack of press freedoms, record of human rights abuses and sponsorship of Hamas. The global news publication Semafor was recently accused of compromising its journalistic independence through its financial ties to Qatar.