"Going global" has been the mantra of Atlanta-based CNN since it began its international expansion in the 1990s. But a carefully calculated move to localize its global aspirations appears to be paying off big in Turkey.

CNN-TURK, launched on Oct. 11, 1999, in partnership with Turkey's Dogan Media Group, now reaches 7 million out of the 12 million households that watch television five to six hours a day, according to executives at the network.

The partnership in Turkey was just the second of CNN's joint ventures overseas, in which the network teamed up with a local partner to broadcast news 24/7 in the native language.

The first was CNN Plus in Spain, which was launched on Jan. 27, 1999.

It marked the beginnings of the Atlanta network's attempts to regionalize its overseas coverage and tailor content to specific markets.

The move is not without challenges. Chris Cramer, president of CNN's International Networks, pointed to coverage of the war in Iraq as a case in point.

'A challenging war'

Public opinion polls in Turkey showed that the population was overwhelmingly opposed to the war. In Washington, however, the Bush administration made clear that it needed Turkey's active participation, given that country's strategic location on Iraq's northern border.

The challenge was how to ensure that CNN-TURK presented the news fairly and accurately and avoid creating any perception of bias toward Turkey or the United States.

"This was a challenging war for us and a challenging war for them," Cramer recalled.

CNN-TURK Vice President Efe Onbilgin said the network retained its audience and its credibility because of the trust Turks had in the CNN brand.

"People in Turkey have always trusted CNN. [Even] before CNN was in Turkey, they knew CNN," he said. That trust, he said, comes from "working with the best journalists, the best producers . . . [being] objective and independent."

Cramer said that CNN's strategy of working with local partners and indigenous networks has helped both sides. "CNN's international viewpoint can assist these networks and CNN-TURK, in particular, to understand the notion of comprehensive coverage surrounding crises."

Onbilgin said "comprehensive" meant giving viewers more. "Turks are more interested in hearing about the human side, not just the facts. This is our issue: needing to create a balance of facts and the human element," he said.

Style difference

Keeping an audience can be tough in Turkey, a country that has gone from having just one TV channel 10 years ago to where its people can now choose from 26 national channels. Adding to the challenge, the large majority of that population is under 35.

Onbilgin said most of the other TV channels focus on magazinelike and sensationalist "reporting styles" to attract and hold audiences.

CNN-TURK's style of reporting, heavily influenced and aided by the U.S. network's experience and brand recognition, marks it as a different type of news provider.

Being unbiased in Turkey is not always easy, since the media are under constant challenge, particularly since the government keeps a close eye on their content.

Cramer insisted that CNN does not "impose our will on CNN-TURK. We bring many years of television expertise to any relationship. What we're looking for in our partners is local expertise."

Onbilgin concurred.

"We're trying to build a new brand in Turkey. It's very local. We're trying to convince people to compare CNN-TURK with CNN Domestic [U.S.], not CNN International," he said.

He said that both CNN and the Dogan Media Group have an agreement about what constitutes fairness and impartiality in news gathering. And, he said, they stick to it.