The sound of America.(project of the US Broadcasting Board of Governors)

Norman Pattiz, the man in charge of delivering the American message over the radio waves to the Middle East,is not a policy wonk. To begin with, he lives in Beverly Hills, not Washington, and he likes to spend his time going to Laker games with Sylvester Stallone and Heather Locklear, and driving his 1984 Aston Martin. Until recently, he may not have known Dubai from the Doobie Brothers, but Pattiz has other qualifications. He is the founder and chairman of Westwood One, the $3.5-billion company that is the country's largest distributor of commercial radio programming. Starting next month, hewill oversee an innovative radio network aimed at bringing American values and pop culture to Arabs in the Middle East. The project, which has a budget of thirty million dollars, is being launched by the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees international government-sponsored broadcasting.

Pattiz, who was appointed to the board by President Clinton, started planning the venture well before September 11th. But since the terrorist attacks, the project has taken on new urgency and has won overwhelming support from Congress. "There's no question that there's a media war going on," Pattiz said last week. "The enemy's weapons are hate radio, incitement to violence, disinformation, and censorship." He went on, "Why do they hate us? Because they don't know us. Will they like us when they do know us in an accurate fashion? Put it this way: We stand a better chance." He was speaking by telephone from his office in Los Angeles. He lives in a house that he bought from his friend David Geffen. A miniature cable car carries guests from the upper grounds to the lower.

"I've got a lot of toys," said Pattiz, who, at fifty-nine, wears a gray buzz cut, calculated stubble, and a huge N.B.A. championship ring that was a gift from Shaquille O'Neal. "But I am so much more excited about this."

Pattiz calls his Middle East project "The New Station for the New Generation." It will broadcast twenty-four hours a day and will devote most of that time to playing a blend of Western and Arab pop music, a decision that has some critics worried. But Pattiz views the music as "just a tool to deliver the audience." Twice an hour, the music will be interrupted by five-minute news segments in Arabic, reported by American-sponsored journalists. There will ...