From Jim Metrock: Make no mistake, I, like most people am thrilled with the death of Channel One News.
The end should have come a long time ago for this miserable commercial exploiter of schoolchildren. Channel One News employees saw students mainly as nothing more than a target market.
However, it is a little disturbing to read the cold press release from Channel One’s parent company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
HMH didn’t mention even one Channel One employee in this final press release. HMH didn’t thank any of the on-air personalities that suffered through the last years knowing fewer and fewer students were watching them in their classrooms. No mention of Tom Hanson, Azia Celestino or the other “reporters” who continued to ruin their reputations by staying with this dying dinosaur that once ruled teen marketing.
No mention of previous presidents of Channel One (all who came from advertising and marketing; not from education or journalism).
Oddly, Houghton Mifflin doesn’t wish the terminated Channel One News employees best wishes for finding a job with legitimate news-gathering organizations. HMH evidently did not offer out-of-work employees jobs at other HMH companies.
It makes me almost feel sorry for Channel One employees… and then I remember how much school time Channel One robbed from students and I get over it.
