Inside Scoop
Channel One Still Raises Hackles

Corporations are paying top dollar for teenage eyeballs

In 1989, Christopher Whittle launched Channel One, a for-profit TV news program beamed directly into America's secondary schools, despite a storm of protests over the commercials accompanying the news. More than a decade later, Channel One is still in operation--and still controversial.

Who owns Channel One now?
Channel One was sold for $250 million in 1994 to Primedia, a company that publishes Seventeen and about 250 other magazines.

What does Channel One offer?
A participating school gets satellite dishes, wiring, two VCRs, and television monitors for every classroom, plus a daily news program designed for teenagers. A sampling of news reports aired last spring:

Israel withdraws from Lebanon.

South Carolina takes the Confederate flag off its state house.

Children whose parents are on drugs tell their stories.

What does Channel One get in exchange?
Teenage eyeballs, a valuable prize for advertisers. Among the ads:

A spike-haired duck plugs Bubble Yum gum.

A velociraptor beats Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors at basketball, and Carter decides he needs more Gatorade.

Two teens on a date try to kiss while wearing paper bags over their heads to hide acne, which they wouldn't have to do if they used pHisoderm.

The ads are often expensively produced and get more student attention than the news. According to the Washington Post, a 30-second ad on Channel One can go for $200,000.

The Channel One contract with schools stipulates that a participating school must show the program when students are in class. Most schools show Channel One during homeroom, to avoid intruding on teaching time.

Who are the big supporters and detractors?
Opponents span the ideological spectrum, ranging from traditional corporate watchdogs like the Consumers' Union, to the Southern Baptist Convention and Phyllis Schlafly of the Eagle Forum. They're united on one theme: It's wrong to subject a captive audience of school children to commercial advertisement.

Promoters argue that so long as the messages are not offensive, and the news reporting is good, Channel One can be a resource for cash-starved school districts.

How is Channel One actually used in schools?
In a variety of ways. At Darnall High School in Geneseo, Illinois, teacher Tom Steele uses Channel One to start discussions on current events. The students have all watched the same program, he explains, and they have a common set of facts.

Steele, Channel One's "Teacher of the News" last year, is concerned about the ads, but thinks they're less offensive than they used to be.

At Charleston High School in Charleston, Illinois, the daily Channel One program is broadcast during a "tutorial" period when students are encouraged to get extra help from teachers. That means many students don't watch, although the TV is on.

Charleston social studies teacher Rick Everett does watch the program, to see whether there's a segment he wants to use. If so, he has the school staff replay it for his classes. During the repeat, Everett can sometimes avoid the ads.

"If I turn it off right after the first segment, I can say 'No, thank you' to Snickers,'" he points out.

At the Washington Middle School in Seattle, the Channel One contract has expired, but teachers can still get the programs if they want to. No one does.

"Kids watch way too much television to begin with," says teacher Richard Katz. "Plus, I'm not thrilled about ads targeted to kids."

Instead of television news, Katz uses newspapers from around the world to teach current events.

Washington Middle School sixth-grade teacher Marcy Shadow has created a "Jeopardy"-style current events game that has her students reading newspapers at home, even when they're not assigned.

"I really can't afford to take time away from instruction for Channel One," she says.

The television monitor is still on her classroom wall, but "I hang a colorful Chinese scarf in front of it so it doesn't show."

Is commercialization of public schools, spearheaded by Channel One, a threat to education?
The more than 9,000 delegates to the 1993 NEA Representative Assembly thought so--and voted that the Association should try to stop it.

Channel One's commercialization has helped clear the way for commercial-laden posters, book covers (distributed by another Primedia division), school Web sites, and lesson plans. Campbell's Soup, for instance, has developed and promoted a science experiment to prove that its spaghetti sauce is thicker than a rival's.

A 1997 Business Week article--"This Lesson Is Brought To You By..."--offered this vignette of the rising tide of commercialism in schools: "In Broward County, Florida, 10-year-old Travis Licata recently learned how to design a McDonald's..., how a McDonald's works, and how to apply and interview for a job at McDonald's, thanks to a seven-week company-sponsored class intended to teach kids about the work world.

"[The school] let McDonald's in be-cause the fast-food giant arrived with a curriculum... that would cost the school nothing. Was it worthwhile? Here's Travis's assessment: 'If you want to work in a McDonald's when you grow up, you already know what to do.'"

--Alain Jehlen

For more info: Contact the Center for Commercial-Free Public Education in Oakland, CA, 510/268-1100, www.commercialfree.org.