Channel One tried very hard to get young people to watch a TV show this past weekend that raised doubts about Jesus’ resurrection. Since last Thursday, March 1, Channel One’s website has tease their young visitors with an article about film director’s James Cameron’s TV show "Jesus Family Tomb" which aired last night on the Discovery Channel.
This is from Channel One’s homepage for news. These brief sentences "tease" children to click on the link and read more.
Notice that Channel One puts a question mark after "Jesus’ Tomb Found." And they add "Maybe" after that. This is Channel One’s way of playing both sides, or being "neutral" in their reporting. But like so many stories on Channel One’s TV show and on their website, this "neutrality" is not neutral at all.
Young people will be confused by this article and many will only read Channel One’s "teaser": Jesus’ Tomb Found? Maybe.
Even if they read Channel One’s "cut and paste" AP story, they might not read anything else. They won’t know that this was a much-discredited stunt that experts across the globe blasted as reckless and unsupportable.
Obligation’s Jim Metrock said, "This is disgusting. Who at Channel One thought this was one of the top five news stories for young people? for five days? Is there anybody at Channel One that has any common sense? The most simple-minded person could easily ascertain that this ‘news story’ had a large element of publicity stunt to it. The person pushing this story, James Cameron, was not a religious scholar but a showman – who had a stake in the commercial TV show at the center of the story. Channel One needlessly presents a question to young people: Was the resurrection of Jesus Christ a myth? To which they offer up their answer: Maybe. Coming a few weeks before Easter, this is even more disturbing. Channel One News is bad enough for young people without Channel One getting into anti-religious, tabloid stories that may leave many young people’s faith shaken. Channel One has never appreciated the wide range of ages of its web visitors. Channel One doesn’t understand that something a high school senior may be able to handle may be extremely difficult for an eleven-year-old."
