If anything can be more controversial than Channel One News, it is the web site About.com. It looked like our letter to Channel One’s Paul Folkemer may have been effective when banner ads for About.com appeared to be removed from ChannelOne.com, but the ads are back.
Children who click on the ever present About.com banner ads are taken to a place that should upset many parents.
The About.com “Teen” site that Channel One links to has a “Teen Music” section that prominently features the king of vulgarity, Eminem.
Jim Metrock said, “About.com is a rough place. Channel One should know this if they researched the site. It is incredible that a ‘teen’ site would promote artists that are known for their violent lyrics and extremely sexually explicit lyrics. The guide for that site told me that she didn’t want to be ‘judgmental’. Of course, she was judgmental in making the decision that Eminem and other obscene groups are acceptable subject matter for the teen site.”
This is what About.com's Shari Waters wrote:
“Our mission is to create an online community, giving teens a medium for their music interests, forums to ask questions, the opportunity to discuss current issues related to the music scene or simply voice their opinion in a non-threatening environment. It is not our position to be judgmental. For more on the issue, feel free to visit our Parents Page: http://teenmusic.about.com/library/blparents.htm Thank you for visiting the site and taking the time to write.
Best regards, Shari Shari Waters is the About.com "guide" for Music for Teens"
Here is a sample of the content of this Music for Teens site. About.com tells kids the lyrics to a song by someone called “Shaggy.” Here is what kids read:
"Honey came in and she caught me red-handed Creeping with the girl next door Picture this, we were both buck naked Bangin’ on the bathroom floor ... But she caught me on the counter (It wasn’t me) Saw me bangin’ on the sofa (It wasn’t me) I even had her in the shower (It wasn’t me) She even caught me on camera (It wasn’t me) She saw the marks on my shoulder (It wasn’t me) Heard the words that I told her (It wasn’t me) Heard the scream get louder (It wasn’t me) She said our dealy was over Honey came in and she caught me red-handed Creeping with the girl next door Picture this, we were both buck naked Bangin’ on the bathroom floor ..."
Metrock said, “This is just a sample of the sleazy content found at About.com’s teen web site. Channel One is dead wrong for advertising About.com’s teen site to children. In January 2001, the captive audience of schoolchildren in schools with Channel One were forced to watch several ads for About.com. Sometimes About.com is advertised twice in one show. Parents are going to hold Channel One accountable for this inappropriate advertising. But then again, Channel One has always run from accountability.”
