For Immediate Release: For More Information Contact:
Thursday, November 9, 2000 Gary Ruskin (202) 296-2787
Jim Metrock (205) 612-3376
Following the announcement of a proposed merger between Primedia Inc. and About.com Inc., two media watchdog groups raised questions regarding whether it was proper and appropriate for Primedia, a large media company, to merge with About.com, which generates an unspecified amount of revenue from Internet pornography.
Primedia owns several child-targeted magazines, such as Teen Beat and Seventeen, and Channel One, an in-school marketing company that delivers ten minutes of “lite” news and two minutes of advertising each schoolday to a captive audience of approximately eight million children.
About.com operates roughly general interest 700 websites, and several which appear to promote an extensive library of pornography. For example, About.com operates websites on “Adult Swinging,””Amateur Erotica,” and “Fetishism.” About.com’s adult film guide, “Margie S.”
tells About.com patrons that her adult film newsletter will “give you the lowdown on the best xxx films & stars past & present with plenty of links to the hottest porno places.”
“Primedia shareholders have to look at themselves in the mirror and decide whether they wish to go into business partnership with porn peddlers,” said Gary Ruskin, Director of Commercial Alert.
“The mainstreaming of pornography is a national tragedy,” said Jim Metrock, President of Obligation, Inc. “About.com provides visitors with help in finding prostitutes, pornographic films, and links to sites like
