Dr. Paul Folkemer tried for three years to convince the country that
a pig was a peacock. He failed. He was hired in 1998 to create an educational
facade around Channel One. He was a former school principal and wanted people
to trust him when he said Channel One was an educational endeavor and not an
advertising gimmick. “I remember meeting him for the first time in Columbiana, Alabama,” sObligation president Jim Metrock. “He had come down from New York
to convince the Shelby County School Board that they shouldn’t throw his company
out of the classrooms. He was new on the job. It was an unmitigated disaster
for Folkemer and Channel One. Folkemer proudly told the board
that he approved ALL advertising on their web site and on their in-school TV
show. Then Trey Ireland, a board member, asked him if he knew of several
companies and he read their names. Folkemer said he didn’t. They
were all advertisers on Channel One’s outrageous web site that was, and still
is, constantly advertised on Channel One News. These companies provided
links to hardcore pornography. Folkemer was stunned. He was caught telling
a whopper. Folkemer said he immediately called Channel One’s headquarters
and told them to remove all the web ads. Shelby County, for that reason
and many others, removed Channel One and gave their students back an hour of
school a week. Folkemer was on the defensive for his three years. He was selling
something that educators didn’t want. Now he is an assistant superintendent
for a small New York public school district. It is fitting that he is now in
a school system that doesn’t have Channel One.”
Note: New York State has always banned Channel One from all of its public schools.
