Note to Channel One: Take more time hiring your lobbyists.
From Jim Metrock:
This is getting ugly. Team Abramoff was a group of lobbyists in Washington DC that could move heaven and earth for those who paid them enough money. Channel One and their parent company PRIMEDIA paid A LOT of money to Team Abramoff from 1999 to 2004. What did they get for all the money they spent? Looking at the ever-shrinking Channel One today, one would have to say they got very little.
Mr. Abramoff’s group got wealthier and wealthier while Channel One got poorer and poorer. Now, both Team Abramoff and Channel One News have very bleak futures.
Channel One remains untouched by the Abramoff scandal, but they certainly have friends in low places.
Below is part of a form that lobbyists have to file that shows the connection between PRIMEDIA / Channel One and Abramoff and Company in 2002.
Exhibit A:
This time period was when Abramoff was working for Greenberg Traurig. On some reports the client was “Channel One Network” and at other times it was “PRIMEDIA”. This shows PRIMEDIA paid Jack Abramoff, Tony Rudy, Neil Volz and others who worked on this account at Greenberg Traurig $240,000 for six months of work.
Exhibit B:
This is the second page of the mid-year report. Although “PRIMEDIA, Inc.” is listed as the client, it is obvious that much of the work was performed for Channel One. “Adolescent safety, education and health issues” may not sound like Channel One, but that is the language they used for Channel One lobbying. The Center for Disease Control around this time started running ads on Channel One News. Around this time, Obligation attempted to raise public concern about the amount of personal information Channel One was collecting from children on their web site.
Exhibit C:
Page 3 Tony Rudy and Neil Volz working hard to keep schoolchildren watching Channel One’s commercials.
