From Jim Metrock:
Just over a year ago, the controversial, hyper-commercialized, in-school TV show called Channel One News went out of business. Few schools were watching Channel One when they called it quits so few were sorry to see it go.
Unfortunately for kids, a few Channel One employees decided they had to find a new way to advertise in classrooms. So NexxGen News was created. (Is commercially exploiting schoolchildren the only thing these people can do?!)
NexxGen’s parent company is an advertising/marketing firm called Gen Media Partners. As always the people running Channel One News and now NexxGen News have nothing to do with journalism or education. Yuck.
NexxGen News is much different than Channel One, but it’s based on the same idea. Students have money. Gen Media Partners and their advertisers want some of that money. It’s so simple and so ugly.
So parents and other members of the public need to know about NexxGen News and Gen Media Partners. But that’s not all. There is a third company that is tied up in this unholy alliance of school advertising: Edmodo.
Edmodo is a creepy sounding name, but they have been an education network since 2008. They are the exclusive distribution arm for Gen Media’s NexxGen News. This makes them a vital partner in getting advertising into classrooms.
