U.S creates Arab TV network to boost image

WASHINGTON-Early next year, the United States will launch its
most ambitious effort to change this country's sinister image
in the Arab world: a 24-hour Arabic-language, satellite news
channel.
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For now called the Middle East Television Network or MTN, the
channel is intended to provide an alternative to several
Arabic-language news channels, especially Al-Jazeera.
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The government is spending $32 million to launch the
station-....fixing up a TV studio in the Washington suburbs
and testing names  with Arabic-speaking focus groups.
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The news channel by law can't be seen in the United States.
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To launch MTN, taxpayers will pay $62 million, including the
first year of operation and an estimated $37 million to $47
million a year after that to keep it going.
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Many will see MTN as a way to express the views of the Bush
Administration, said Adel Iskandar, co-author of a 2002 book
about Al-Jazeera.
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Some of the toughest choices for MTN will be its words.
Suicide bombers wont be "shaheeds" (martyrs) but the
more neutral "intihariya" which means a suicide.
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Article written by Carl Weiser of the Gannett News Service.