Channel
One writes the contract that schools must sign if they want to get their "free" TV
equipment.
It has now become very clear that Channel One attorneys have removed
the "80%" clause from many, if not all, contracts.
This is big news for schools.
Channel One used to require schools to promise they would show the
Channel One News TV show in AT LEAST 80 percent of all classrooms.
This was in addition to the requirement that still remains that the
TV program must be shown a minimum of 90 percent of all school days.
By dropping this requirement, Channel One has created a huge loophole
that could allow schools to not show Channel One News on ANY day of
the school year and still remain in compliance with the contract.
Here’s the "deal" from Channel One: Channel One will loan
TV equipment to schools if the schools agree to show their daily program
on 90% of all school days. BUT there is no longer a requirement that
any minimum amount of classrooms actually rebroadcast the show.
Channel One used to demand that 8 out 10 classrooms must show the
program. Now it is not 80%, it isn’t 60%, heck, it isn’t even 5%. There
is absolutely NO MINIMUM classroom requirement.
Schools can simply replay the show, on 90% of school days, on their
13" monitor, usually in the library or central office, with no
students viewing the show, and technically meet the terms of the contract.
Section C (4) states: "The school agrees to receive the Channel
One News programs from COCC (Channel One Communication Corp.) and to
show the entire daily newscast on all installed television sets."
That sounds like Channel One is indeed demanding that ALL classrooms
must show the program every day – going up from 80% to 100%, but that
is not the case. Section D (3) states: "This Agreement does not
require that all teachers use Channel One News or that all students
or any particular student view Channel One News. The School may at
its discretion develop appropriate procedures to accommodate students
who do not wish to view Channel One News or whose parents do not wish
to view Channel One News."
This contract is as poorly written as they come. One clause implies
something and another clause implies the opposite. Nothing is stated
in clear,definitive terms.
By saying that it does not require "all teachers" or "all
students" to view the TV show, the contract says there is no minimum
number of teachers or students or classrooms needed to view the show.
This is absurd on its face, especially to the national advertisers
who are paying Channel One to sell their candy and violent movies.
Is it just sloppy legal writing or is it something else? It may be
that Channel One understands the new realities of the classroom. Schools
can’t be made to show the daily program like the old contracts required.
Last year, the stunning
letters between
the principal of Pizitz Middle School (a very commercialized school
in Birmingham, AL) and Channel One’s president Jim Ritts, exposed the
special treatment that some schools receive.
