Channel One News is a youth marketing company whose main purpose is to get advertising to a captive audience of impressionable schoolchildren. The company loans a school TV equipment in exchange for the school’s contractual pledge to show students a daily, 12-minute, hyper-commercial, TV program called Channel One News. Students lose one hour a week of schools time, which equates to one lost week of instructional time (32 hours) per year. No educational organization endorses the use of Channel One News.
Channel One has fallen on very hard times. Once they claimed over 8 million students were under contract. Since 1997 they have continued to lose schools and now they claim “nearly five million” students and the true figure is probably lower.
In May 2014, publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt acquired Channel One from ZelnickMedia the makers of the ultra-violent Grand Thief Auto video game series. Houghton Mifflin did not disclose the purchase price.
At the end of 2014 most of Channel One’s full-paying advertisers have abandoned the program.
From Jim Metrock: Today, Channel One News had a “special” news anchor share the duties with C1N regular Errol Barnett. The guest news anchor was Rosario Dawson. She has a mission being on Channel One this morning. Channel One would tell us that that mission is to help promote tolerance, to help students overcome their prejudices. There...
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Lawrence County (AL) Board of Education Code of Conduct for school employees. It may be because Channel One doesn’t have any educators on its staff. It may be because they never replaced Paul Folkermer as their one-time “Education VP.” (That was more window dressing than anything.) Or it may be because Channel One has never respected teachers. Anyway,...
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Added December 5, 2005 – Obligation has received several emails from PRIMEDIA, Channel One’s parent company, protesting our articles that state Channel One has “sold” news anchor positions to advertisers. The important parts of their correspondence are copied below. George Clooney was not a guest news anchor and was simply a guest plugging a movie. It is apparent now that...
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From Jim Metrock: On Monday, Primedia, the parent company of Channel One News, announce that it is considering splitting the company into two separate companies. One would contain the companies that have a bright future and solid earnings potential and the other would have the problem companies like Channel One News. Also, it was announced that CEO Kelly...
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Madonna is using taxpayers again to help Maverick, her record and movie company. Schoolchildren watched what appeared to be a public service announcement. It was a PSA but it included a shameless plug for a new Maverick movie co-produced by Madonna – the original “Material Girl.” Maverick is Madonna’s own record label and movie production company. It is a...
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The states of Texas and Alabama have gone on record asking Channel One News to refrain from advertising foods of minimal nutritional value (FMNV). The Texas Public School Nutrition Policy lists chewing gum as a FMNV. Yet Channel One News continues to not only run ads for chewing gum and bubble gum, but they are using their unique...
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Imagine you could have eavesdropped on a conversation in the office of Channel One’s president Judy Harris a few weeks ago. The new sales VP takes a seat. [We don’t know who the new VP is since Kent Haehl, the longtime person at that spot resigned or was fired this summer. We will call the new person...
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Subway has a delicious deal with Channel One News. Subway will buy regular ad time on the show and Channel One will mix Subway promotions into the “news” part of the program. Channel One is not suppose to do that. They are not to have sponsored segments of their show, but they have been fudging on their contract...
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PRIMEDIA is Channel One’s parent company. They have contacted Obligation in November, 2005 and said that no money has ever been paid to Channel One for a guest anchor’s appearance. Obligation believes that what Channel One News is doing is wrong. It is unethical and violates journalism standards. We believe there is a quid pro quo for Channel One...
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This is the first paragraphs of Channel One’s promotion of Missy Elliott and her new UPN TV show. Don’t be fooled by the “make an anti-violence spot” language. This is the “cover” Channel One uses to give their ad campaigns some respectability. Missy Elliott is a singer who revels in violence, raunchy sex and drugs and more drugs. Channel One’s...
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