Produced in 2006 by Media Education Foundation.
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Does your school still have Channel One News?
Learn how to unplug
Houghton Mifflin/Channel One News
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.
Captive Audience: Advertising Invades the Classroom
Was this necessary?
One of the three main stories on Channelone.com’s homepage today was one on Rep. David Wu’s sex scandal and his decision to not seek re-election. If there is something more bizarre than Mr. Wu’s sexual fantasies it has to be Channel One’s editorial decision making. Why did Channel One think this was such an...
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Channelone.com puts on some lipstick.
From Jim Metrock: Channelone.com is the official website of Channel One News. This week it has a new look, but unfortunately the same, tired content. The site mirrors the in-school TV show in its lack of concern about current events and hard news. The shock one has on first visiting the website, is...
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Ad job
From Jim Metrock: Well it’s been over a month since Channel One News posted a help wanted ad for the open position of Vice-President of Ad Sales. One would ordinarily think that in this terrible economy people would be flooding Channel One with applications and resumes. But, it’s… Channel… One… News. Working for...
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Complete, unedited Channel One News for February 16, 2011 plus Pop Quiz Madness
This actress from the movie “I Am Number Four” must be laughing at the idea that public schools are allowing her to actually pitch her movie (PG-13) to a captive audience of middle school students. When it comes to marketing a movie, it doesn’t get better than Channel One “News.” It’s no...
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Channel One News Hall of Shame: How to cheat on a book report – 1998
July 21, 2011 From Jim Metrock: On February 13, 1998 Channel One News wrote this article as an entertaining guide on how to write a book report without reading the book. Click on the three PDFs numbered 1, 2 and 3 at the bottom of this 1998 to read Channel One’s advice to kids....
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Complete, unedited Channel One News for February 15, 2011
See what Channel One News doesn’t want you to see. What Channel One shows parents is not what students see in their classroom. Channel One does not allow the public to see two minutes of their 12-minute daily program. Channel One News removes both commercial breaks from their web rebroadcast of the show....
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Complete, unedited Channel One News for November 11, 2010
See what Channel One News doesn’t want you to see. What Channel One shows parents is not what students see in their classroom. Channel One does not allow the public to see two minutes of their 12-minute daily program. Channel One News removes both commercial breaks from their web rebroadcast of the show....
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Good images to start a school day? Channel One News says, “Yes!!!”
Schools that still have Channel One News are often helpless as Channel One’s marketing geniuses dump offensive advertising into classrooms. Learn more about the cultural rot this advertising gimmick continually brings into public schools. For more on the controversial Channel One News program: https://obligation.org/category/alloy-channel-one-news
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