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Bus Radio Latest News 2008
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Parents should be outraged at the garbage BusRadio is dumping on kids.
A Graphic Example Of The Sleaze Advertised By BusRadio
From Jim Metrock:
Last night I watched some of the two-hour premiere of 90210. The show is filth.
When BusRadio executives agreed to promote this program to American young people, they knew, or should have known, they were doing a very bad thing.
In the FIRST FIVE MINUTES of the show advertised by BusRadio, the following scene takes place:
Annie is a teenager who has just moved from Kansas to Beverly Hills.
On her first day at her new upscale Beverly Hills high school she is looking for Ethan a boy she knew from a previous summer visit.
She finds him.
He is behind the wheel of a car in the school parking lot. He sees her too. He has a strange facial expression.
Annie stops dead in her tracks on the sidewalk. A girl lifts her head from the Ethan's crotch.
The girl in the car looks at Annie as Annie walks away in shock.
Above: Pictures taken from the BusRadio-advertised 90210 program (September 2, 2008)
It is now September 3, the day after this sleazy show aired. It has been twenty-four hours since the scene above was seen on TV. Surely BusRadio employees were watching this show since they had so heavily advertised it for weeks on their website. One would think BusRadio would remove all ads for the show from their website after seeing just this one scene above (by the way there was much more offensive content than just this one scene). Yet they still have ads for the show on their web site. That is just mean and insensitive.
Here is what is still on the BusRadio.com web site:
Above: BusRadio continues to advertise the sleazy 90210 even after the shocking premiere. Kids can click on the video at the bottom to see a sexy teaser for the show.
Call up your school superintendent and tell him or her that you never want BusRadio in your school district.
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BusRadio couldn't pass up the CW Network's cash. Pitching sexy remake of 90210 on children is utterly disgusting.
BusRadio's Intense Ad Campaign For 90210 (Video)
From Jim Metrock:
I urged BusRadio to stop advertising the new 90210 to kids. They not only refused to pull their ads from their website, BusRadio ramped UP the advertising for this age-inappropriate TV show.
BusRadio has done some very ugly things in its short history, but this may be the lowest thing so far. What type of adult pushes this type of content on teens, on middle schoolers, and unbelievably on little children in elementary school?
I'll watch this BusRadio-advertised 90210 tonight along with a lot of teens and children influenced by BusRadio. I don't think it is not going to be a pleasant two hours. Please watch the video below.
CLICK HERE: BusRadio.com's advertising campaign for 90210 at YouTube.
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Advertising this edgy, sexy TV show could cost BusRadio many schools.
90210
BusRadio has made another huge mistake in judgment.
They have begun advertising 90210 the remake of Beverly Hills 90210. The new show is being promoted as a "sexier" and "more provocative" show for kids.
Previously BusRadio got in trouble with parents by advertising the raunchy comedy Aliens in America. Both of these shows are on the often controversial CW Network (the network that resulted from the merger of the UPN Network and the WB Network). The CW Network is an important advertiser on BusRadio. This network wants young people to hear about their TV shows without their parents being around. BusRadio is a perfect format for them. Kids are COMPELLED to listen to plugs for CW shows. If you are a parent you should be getting sick about now.
Advertising an age-inappropriate TV show like this to kids is another reason why schools are steering clear of BusRadio.
The ad for 90210 is on BusRadio's homepage. That means that the very youngest visitors are going to see the promotion of this sexually provocative TV show. When the BusRadio DJs constantly tell kids to "go to BusRadio.com" "check it out at BusRadio.com" they are purposefully driving kids to the advertising on the web site.
We have sent an email to BusRadio employees urging them to remove all advertising for 90210. If we hear back, we'll post the reply. Don't hold your breath.
Just in... others are concerned about 90210.
PTC Targets CW's '90210'
Group frets that the show, unavailable for preview, could advocate teen sex and alcohol and drug use
Aug 26, 2008
-By John Consoli, Mediaweek
http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/media/e3i98d12e6c6469f58206e27697323395ea
NEW YORK The Parents Television Council is again going after one of its favorite targets, The CW television network, this time for not making the premiere episode of its new fall drama, 90210, available for advertisers to screen before it airs.
The PTC said if advertisers are not allowed to screen it, they might find after buying commercials in the show that it has story lines like current CW drama Gossip Girl, which the PTC said have "glamorized drug and alcohol use along with casual teen sex, including threesomes."
Arguing guilt by association, the PTC said, "If Gossip Girl is any indication of what 90210 will look like, advertisers have plenty of reason to steer clear of the show."
PTC president Tim Winter said the organization is "actively asking advertisers not to sponsor the show given the content that has been aired in previous CW programs and the fact that no content will be made available for an advance screening."
The CW responded to the PTC in a statement: "Withholding the advance screener for 90210 has nothing to do with content concerns and everything to do with strategic marketing for the most anticipated new show of the fall season. 90210 has had strong demand and enthusiastic support from the advertising community since the moment the applause ceased at our 2008 upfront presentation."
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The potential for driver distraction is the NUMBER ONE reason to refuse BusRadio's "free" deal.
The Driver's Club
BusRadio is controversial for many reasons. Forcing kids to listen to commercials is clearly the main reason schools have refused their "free" deal. Probably the second biggest reason schools reject BusRadio is their bizarre policy of playing "clean" or "cleaned up" songs from groups and artists known for their explicit content. [When BusRadio plays music by Buckcherry, Green Day, Diddy, One Block Radius, Hinder, Shawty Lo, Lupe Fiasco, Simple Plan, and My Chemical Romance (to name a few BR explicit artists) they cannot seriously claim to be "age-appropriate" for any secondary school student.]
While these are obviously important issues for parents and school administrators to consider, these reasons pale in comparison to the issue of bus driver distraction.
Let us state it as bluntly and as clearly as we can: BusRadio wants the attention of not only the captive audience of young bus riders, but they want the attention of school bus drivers too. When they get the attention of a bus driver, the driver is distracted. One can argue the degree of distraction, but not that the distraction doesn't exist.
BusRadio NEEDS school bus drivers to like their company. They need drivers to become loyal supporters of their private company. Drivers who feel connected in some way to BusRadio will more than likely play the BusRadio program for their riders. The more the radio program is actually heard by riders, the more ad revenue for BusRadio. The driver is the most important person in the BusRadio universe. The driver controls whether or not BusRadio's advertising and other content is played on the bus. BusRadio can add bells and whistles to buses, but if drivers decide to not turn the radio to the "Mat and Lucia Show," then all is lost.
To win over drivers, BusRadio has come up with a not-too-original plan: BusRadio will throw money at school bus drivers.
Below is a link to a portion of a BusRadio show that aired this week. The two BusRadio DJs are talking directly to school bus drivers. The DJs have been instructed to get drivers signed up as members of the "Driver's Club." This "club" is a way to get money into the wallets and purses of drivers.
No Superintendent, school board member, principal, bus transportation director, or parent should EVER want this company talking to, or dangling cash in front of, any school bus driver. This is insane. This is real, honest-to-goodness distraction. Drivers have to listen for their name to be called out by the BusRadio DJs in order to win. BusRadio has awarded $500 and $100 American Express gift cards to winning drivers.
Put yourself in the position of a school bus driver. You know railroad tracks are coming up on your route. You know that it is universally accepted that school bus drivers should NOT be listening to radios, especially when they need to be aware of outside sounds, such as those that may be present when approaching a railroad crossing. You also know that you have joined BusRadio's Driver's Club and they may be calling out YOUR NAME at any moment. If you have the radio off, then you can't hear your name and no rider can listen for your name. Missing your name being called out by BusRadio could cost you $500. What are you going to do?
Parents want their school bus driver to have one and ONLY one goal in mind when they are driving their bus. That goal is to deliver their child to school and back to home SAFELY - day in and day out. Parents want driver distraction to be kept at a minimum. Their child is on the bus. Parents don't want Lucia Nazzaro and Matthew Blades, the two wacky buffoon DJs in the audio clip below, talking to their child's driver. They don't want these two disc jockeys to be offering their child's driver a chance to win a digital camera or gift cards. To be blunt again, parents want Ms. Nazzaro and Mr. Blades to kindly shut up and let the driver DRIVE.
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No child should be within a one block radius of any BusRadio radio program.
One Block Radius
A new act has been added to BusRadio's playlist and it won't make parents feel any better about BusRadio.
The new school year has just begun and bus riders have already been introduced to One Block Radius. This is an "alternative hip-hop" group that has a reputation for explicit lyrics. Their music celebrates the "partying" lifestyle. Currently, BusRadio is playing their song "You Got Me" which of course has no offensive content. BusRadio's policy is to play only "clean" or cleaned-up songs from groups known for their explicit content. In this way, BusRadio can technically say they are playing "age-appropriate" songs as they promote some of the raunchy acts in music to young school bus riders.
On their song "Purple and Orange" one member of One Block Radius yells out, "Hey Do you sugar boys want to drink some cisco tonight?" Cisco is a brand name of a "low-end, fortified" wine. Its meaning in songs has taken on a broader meaning which includes any cheap, high-alcoholic content wine. "Cisco" is drunk by homeless people and college students for quick inebriation. The alcohol content of the brand Cisco can range from 17.5% to 19.5% alcohol by volume. This is powerful stuff. (Beer is usually about 4.0 to 6.0%.)
Why would BusRadio start off the school year with a group whose music encourages young people to drink such a product or to drink alcohol at all? It's because the same people who have made terrible decisions about what is played on BusRadio are still at the company. These people feel they have to push the envelope with kids or the bus riders will think they are too "Radio Disney."
One of the more common words one hears on One Block Radius songs is "M*****f*****." This word (and its variations) seems to be very important to this band's artistic mission. Of course, the song BusRadio is airing now has no curse words. Students however will hear the real One Block Radius when they buy their CDs or download their music. After all that is the point. One Block Radius is being played on BusRadio now in August because their new CD comes out on September 16. The new album will contain explicit content like their debut album "Long Story Short."
This is the cover of the group's last CD. BusRadio might try to defend their decision by saying their CD has no "Parental Advisory -Explicit Content" label on it. This label, however, is VOLUNTARY, and One Block Radius has obviously chosen to have no warning labels.
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Any parent can do what BusRadio didn't do and that is visit iTunes and check out One Block Radius.
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Amazon.com warns potential buyers of the explicit content.
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BusRadio replays their bus music on their website. Here is proof that One Block Radius is yet another offensive music act that meets BusRadio's truly low standards.
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BusRadio.com membership area creates concern.
jb1 and david123
From Jim Metrock:
BusRadio allows children and anybody else (if they want to misrepresent their age) to become a member of BusRadio.com. I became a member and have been a member in good standing for months. I'm 58.
Here are two other members of BusRadio.com who live in Texas. Let's hope they don't meet.
BusRadio would be wise to shutdown its membership area. Although the company has rules about giving out personal information, BusRadio has a history of not paying close attention to their website. After all, it was OBLIGATION that discovered this profile of a 28-year-old male on THEIR site. No one from BusRadio was concerned about it. We don't know if this member is telling the truth about his age. What we do know for sure is that BusRadio employees in charge of this membership area are not too concerned about monitoring the site.
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BusRadio serves up "dirty" cake with its dirty artists.
This Kitty Litter Tastes Good
We did a double take when we saw this litter box recipe for kids.
BusRadio's Kitty Litter Cake goes right along with the filthy artists ( a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k ) BusRadio has promoted and played for school bus riders.
Whether you see this cat box dessert as a funny practical joke for kids or if you think it is offensive, the point we want to make is this:
BusRadio can tell school bus riders and visitors to their web site ANYTHING THEY WANT TO TELL THEM. This Kitty Litter cake is appropriate for kids down to age 6 because BusRadio's executives and staff said it was "OK." Songs sung by artists known for their explicit lyrics are played on BusRadio because BusRadio's executives and staff thought it was "OK."
It would take an unusual parent to feel comfortable with BusRadio.
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Arbitron decision will help BusRadio sign up more advertisers.
BusRadio Advertising Assault Will Commence Soon
BusRadio has presented so many different faces to the public that it is understandable for people to get confused about the nature of the company.
The bottom line: BusRadio was created so the founders and the venture capitalists who have propped them up with millions of dollars will get rich making kids listen to advertising.
The advertisers will be chosen by the executives at BusRadio. They will decide what children down to AGE SIX will hear advertised OVER AND OVER AND OVER again. When BusRadio wanted to push the envelope and advertise a very age-inappropriate TV show for young people, they did it. They didn't have to ask anybody. Check out the ad/interview BusRadio did to promote Aliens In America.
This press release shows BusRadio is getting geared up for adding more advertisers. They have had very few since they started. That made sense because fewer advertisers made it easier to sign up schools. Once schools are signed up it will be harder for them to get rid of BusRadio when the real advertising assault begins.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Wesley Eberle
617.827.4229
weberle@oneillandassoc.com
BusRadio Receives Arbitron Verification of Audience Measurement Methodology
BusRadio rolls out Average Five Minute Audience Delivery (AFMAD) methodology
Boston - July 8, 2008 - BusRadio, a national radio network that reaches over one million young people ages 6 to 18 in 26 states across America, today announced that Arbitron, the radio industry's leading authority on audience ratings, has verified BusRadio's audience measurement methodology.
Average Five Minute Audience Delivery (AFMAD), measures the average number of students that can be expected to be listening to BusRadio during any five-minute segment in a daypart, defined as the entire bus trip to school in the morning or from school in the evening.
Arbitron also verified a compliance rate (turn on) of 99.1% across the BusRadio Network. Using numbers and factors such as absenteeism and after school activities Arbitron confirmed the rider numbers provided by federal funding guidelines and school districts are a valid representation of bussed students.
"BusRadio's sponsors, and non-profit partners can now be provided with an Arbitron-verified calculation of the number of listeners reached," said Michael Yanoff, co-founder and CEO of BusRadio.
BusRadio is a unique media platform and thus the application of traditional methods to measure audience exposures to BusRadio has some limitations. The AFMAD calculation takes the school bus listening situation into account.
"Radio is a leading out of home medium and BusRadio is working to extend radio's on-the-go reach," said Neal Bonner, Director, Custom Research and New Product Development, Arbitron Inc. "After completing a review of its media model, Arbitron supports the methodology, calculations and formulas BusRadio is utilizing to calculate Average Five Minute Audience Delivery."
"This study will give clients, out of home agencies and broadcast media departments audience verification from a credible source. Through our digital technology we will be able to provide data that allows us to guarantee compliance numbers to our advertisers" said Les Hollander, EVP Sales BusRadio.
BusRadio differs from AM/FM in other profound ways as well. Founded as an alternative to the commercial FM radio content being played on more than half the school buses in the country, BusRadio provides schools with a safer, age-appropriate alternative and parents with the peace of mind that their children are not being exposed to inappropriate lyrics and inappropriate advertising content found on commercial radio. Unlike commercial FM radio, BusRadio content is separated into three age-specific daily programs for elementary, middle and high school children. BusRadio content is edited for language and subject matter - standards unparalleled on the FM dial.
About Arbitron
Arbitron Inc. is a media and marketing research firm serving radio broadcasters, cable companies, advertisers, advertising agencies and outdoor advertising companies. Arbitron's core businesses are measuring network and local market radio audiences across the United States; surveying the retail, media and product patterns of local market consumers; and providing application software used for analyzing media audience and marketing information data. The Company has developed the Portable People MeterTM, a new technology for media and marketing research.
Through its Scarborough Research joint venture with The Nielsen Company, Arbitron also provides media and marketing research services to the broadcast television, newspaper and online industries.
Arbitron's marketing and business units are supported by its research and technology organization, located in Columbia, Maryland. Its executive offices are located in New York City.
About BusRadio
BusRadio is a national radio network that brings age-appropriate music, original programming, and public service messages to more than 1 million listeners between the ages of 6 and 18 every weekday during their daily bus ride. BusRadio reaches more than 10,000 buses in 120 school districts in 24 states. BusRadio is the fastest growing national media network in the youth music space, a better alternative to inappropriate FM radio programming, and a vital safety partner with school districts across America. BusRadio provides a safer bus ride for students by providing school districts with valuable safety features that help minimize driver distractions, and keep students seated, well-behaved and occupied in a positive way. BusRadio's technology features GPS, driver panic buttons tied directly to local emergency services, and internal and external PA systems on every bus. Visit www.busradio.net for more information and to listen to BusRadio programming. BusRadio listeners visit www.busradio.com to listen to BusRadio on the Web, request their favorite songs, and learn more about their favorite artists.
BusRadio, Inc., 160 Gould Street, Suite 201, Needham, MA 02494 P: 781.453.0700
F: 781.444.2391
© 2007 BusRadio, Inc. All rights reserved
www.busradio.com |
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Marketing firm's study shows 84% don't approve of BusRadio.
More Bad News For BusRadio
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Respondents Were Open to Certain Promotions, Especially if Directed at Adults
By Beth Snyder Bulik
Published: June 25, 2008
YORK, Pa. (AdAge.com) -- When it comes to advertising in and around schools, marketers should consider skipping children altogether and going straight to the top: mom.
Programs like General Mills' Box Tops for Education that target parents to make a purchase were much more positively rated than programs that target kids directly with advertising messages.
In a recent survey of almost 1,200 PTO and PTA mothers by School Family Media, more than 73% agreed that promotional materials aimed at parents are more acceptable than those aimed at kids. Only 3% said those aimed at kids are more acceptable. (Some 18% said both are acceptable; 6% said neither is acceptable.)
Box Tops, Labels for Education
Not surprisingly, programs such as General Mills' Box Tops for Education and Campbell's Labels for Education that target parents to make a purchase were much more positively rated than programs that target kids directly with advertising messages.
Box Tops and Labels for Education, for instance, were rated acceptable sponsorships by 95% of moms in the study. Other "winners" in their eyes included Scholastic Book Fairs -- 91% rated it acceptable -- and free educational materials and magazines handed out at school that are written specifically for parents (81% said that was acceptable).
However, kid-targeted advertising drew scant approval. A Bus Radio program, for instance, that plays kid-friendly music and news along with advertising during the daily trek to school, got a paltry 16% acceptable rating. Poster ads placed inside buses fared even worse, with only 9% of moms agreeing they were OK. Ads on book covers also fared poorly, with just one-third rating them as acceptable.
Reward programs get seal of approval
The only direct-to-kids programs that did score well in the survey were reward programs such as Pizza Hut's Book It!, which offers free pizza coupons for reading books, and Topps of the Class, which offers free trading cards for good grades. Eighty-five percent of the moms said reward programs -- those two were mentioned specifically in the question -- were acceptable.
Certain kinds of sampling passed muster with these moms, too. A full 91% said samples distributed in parent gift bags on special nights were OK. And while only 22% thought food and beverage samples given directly to students are acceptable, when the wording was changed to say "healthy food and beverages that meet School Nutrition Association guidelines," the approval rating jumped to 72%.
"Parents are more open to programs that target them instead of their kids," said John Driscoll, VP-sales and business development at School Family Media, a marketing and media company that also publishes the magazine PTO Today. "At the Kid Power conference this year, [an executive from] Cartoon Network said they're literally changing their DNA from thinking about kids to thinking instead about parents and family."
The study also marks the first formal feedback from parents on the relatively new Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative.
Elaine Kolish, director the Better Business Bureau initiative, said the group is "thrilled" with the level of parental awareness of the program. Almost 30% of survey respondents said they had heard of the program, in which large corporations like Pepsi and Kraft pledge to self-regulate their marketing to children. She said she was also pleased that the majority of parents were satisfied with the program -- more than 64% agreed or strongly agreed with the statement "The CFBAI is a step in the right direction and shows food and beverage companies are genuinely committed to curbing advertising to kids."
"I think they believe it is a real, genuine effort to do the right thing," Ms. Kolish said.
Moms support wider scope
The findings about the initiative also showed that other industries that sell to children should be paying attention, too. More than one-third (38%) of the moms surveyed strongly agreed -- and another 36% agreed -- that the initiative should be extended beyond the food and beverage industry to all companies that advertise to children.
"That must be some feeling that they don't like the commercialization of schools," Ms. Kolish said. "So they seem to be anti-commercialization, but recognize that it's O.K. for [things like] healthy products. ... I think all parents want help in educating their kids on healthy eating and being more active."
The survey was conducted online, and the margin of error was plus or minus 3%, School Family Media said. |
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How can a school superintendent be an adviser to BusRadio?
Dr. Carl Batchelder, Content Review Board Member
From Jim Metrock:
As reported before, one of the members of BusRadio's Content Review Board is Dr. Carl Batchelder. He is the Superintendent of the Woburn School District in Woburn, Massachusetts.
Below is an email I sent to all Woburn school committee members.
I thought I would have heard from at least one of the seven members. What I am telling them is their superintendent is doing work, and apparently a lot of work, for a company that has a contract with their school district. I have no idea if he is getting paid or not, but one would assume a full-time school superintendent would not be on a "content review board" for BusRadio, reviewing ALL songs that are played on this national radio broadcast, if he wasn't being paid. But then again, maybe Dr. Batchelder believes so deeply in BusRadio that he is volunteering his time to aid this start-up company.
Either way, Dr. Batchelder's relationship with this school vendor should at least raise a school committee member's eyebrow.
I live in Birmingham, Alabama. If Dr. Batchelder did what he did down here, he would, as we say in the South, be in a "world of hurt." If he had received any financial benefit from BusRadio, he could very well have violated our state Ethics Law.
Dr. Batchelder is a government employee. The taxpayers pay his salary. The taxpayers pay for all his health benefits. Taxpayers pay his expenses. The taxpayers pay a significant part or all of Dr. Batchelder's retirement plan. In return, taxpayers expect Dr. Batchelder and other government employees to WORK FOR THEM.
It might be slightly different if Dr. Batchelder was serving on BusRadio's Content Review Board as a PRIVATE CITIZEN, but he is always referred to as the "Superintendent of Schools, Woburn. MA." The people of his community have put him in this governmental position and he is using his title to not only endorse a product, but to become an adviser to the company that makes the product.
Notice below the Woburn Director of Finance Joseph Elia goes on record as saying that administrators are "untroubled" by BusRadio's ads and content. That's probably a safe thing for Mr. Elia to say since his boss, Dr. Batchelder, is on the BusRadio Content Review Board. Even though one explicit artist after another is played on BusRadio, I bet Mr. Elia and everyone else in Woburn's school administration will keep giving BusRadio a "thumbs up" as long as their superintendent is an adviser to this company.
The Woburn school district has done much to advance the financial interests of BusRadio. Maybe it's time for them to stop.
Email to Woburn (MA) School Committee members about their superintendent doing work for BusRadio
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jimmetrock@mac.com
Subject: BusRadio - please pass on to School Committee members
Date: June 5, 2008 8:19:50 AM CDT
To: schoolcommittee@woburnpss.com
Cc: woburn@cnc.com, jgolin@jbcc.harvard.edu
Woburn School Board members,
Your school district has entered into a contract with a very controversial company called BusRadio. http://obligation.org/busradiohome.php
I write you because I run a small nonprofit in Birmingham, AL that researches and reports on companies that bring advertising into schools, or in this case school buses. Obligation, Inc. is opposed to the commercial exploitation of schoolchildren.
It appears your district was one of the first schools to sign up with BusRadio.
I had always been confused about why your school district would be an early adopter of such a controversial service. A document that surfaced in Florida two weeks ago has given me at least part of the answer.
A committee of parents, teachers and bus drivers in Seminole County, FL recommended to their school board that the contract with BusRadio be ended. http://obligation.org/busradioarticle.php?recordID=963 In a last ditch effort to keep the contract alive, BusRadio released the names of the members of their Content Review Board. (Up until then I had not seen any public mention of their names.) http://obligation.org/busradioarticle.php?recordID=969
Dr. Carl Batchelder is one of four members of the BusRadio Content Review Board.
This Board was evidently created more than two years ago because BusRadio has commented on it for at least that long. I do not know when Dr. Batchelder became a member, but I do know BusRadio has consistently mentioned that a school superintendent was a member of the Board.
This Board is suppose to review all songs that are played on the 3 versions of the daily radio show. That's a lot of work. I would assume members of this Board are being paid for their time. (One member of the Board, a child psychologist, admitted that she hasn't done any work for BusRadio in two years, so there is the possibility that this company is merely using the good names of its members for publicity and that the Content Review Board has never reviewed music content.)
I personally don't believe a government employee should be on any advisory board for a company that has a contract with the school he or she is overseeing, but I'm not a school board member.
Your Board may have given Dr. Batchelder permission to work with BusRadio. If you did, I hope that you now may see this relationship in a different light. His presence on this Content Review Board gives BusRadio respectability that I personally don't think they have earned. Other school districts may be entering into contracts with BusRadio because a school superintendent sees so much value in the service that he is actually advising the company.
I have written about Dr. Batchelder on our website. http://obligation.org/busradiohome.php I wondered aloud if he was working for BusRadio when your Board was given the recommendation to enter into a contract with BusRadio.
We live in a very connected world. A few years ago this email to you would be outright "meddling" in Woburn business, and indeed, you may still consider it as such, but local decisions sometimes have national impact. BusRadio has always prominently featured comments from Woburn in their sales literature. http://obligation.org/pdf/br5.PDF
From the Boston Globe 6/2/06: "A letter from Woburn school officials praising the Bus Radio system is posted on the company's website.`The bus drivers loved it, the ability to keep the kids quiet and in their seats,' said Joseph Elia, director of finance for Woburn schools. He said administrators were untroubled by the ads or the music. `We don't think its a major issues from the standpoint of content,' he said."
I hope your Board will review our website and read about the many problems with BusRadio.
Much Obliged,
Jim Metrock
president
Obligation, Inc.
P.O. Box 26270
Birmingham, AL 35260
205.822.0080
obligation.org
Promoting What Helps Children, Changing What Harms Them.
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