October 27m 1999 – National Journal Reports Channel One Paid Preston Gates Lobbying Firm $820,000 in First Half of 1999
October 27, 1999 – National Journal Reports Channel One Paid Preston Gates Lobbying Firm $820,000 in First Half of 1999
$820,000 doesn’t go as far as it use to.
Over the years, Channel One has paid millions to lobbyists to keep it in business. Using powerful lobbying firms is a standard practice for this controversial company. The magnitude, however, of its cash out-flow to one lobbying firm, Preston Gates, in Washington DC is simply staggering.
Jim Metrock, president of Obligation, said, “Channel One ought to ask for its money back. Preston Gates tried to prevent a Senate hearing on Channel One this May but they failed. All they succeeded in doing was call attention to the fact that Channel One didn’t want the pubic to be discussing its presence in public school classrooms.”
“Channel One has had a series of ineffective lobbying efforts in Alabama,” said Metrock. The bizarre efforts of a mysterious Alabama “organization” called the Coalition to Protect Our Children was discussed in the recent New Republic magazine. (See below.)
“Pat McWhorter, a lobbyist in Montgomery, Alabama, has tried to get some conservatives to support Channel One but he refuses to talk to reporters about Channel One. This shows that people are embarrassed to take money from this controversial company and they would rather do their business in the shadows,” Metrock said.
“I have no idea how much Channel One paid Ralph Reed, a Georgia lobbyist and consultant, but Mr. Reed also refuses to publicly talk about Channel One,” Metrock said. “Poor Channel One. Even their paid lobbyists want to keep their distance from this controversial company. Channel One’s money is failing them. The Truth is getting out to the public and the Truth is winning.”
