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Some of Channel One’s Advertisers – Fall 2000

December 10, 2000

Secret Platnium Protection Mario Tennis – Nintendo Dorito’s Right Guard Extreme Pepsistuff.com Xtra Sugar Free Gum FruitWorks–win a trip to MTV Studios Gatorade PHisoderm Nintendo Game Boy Color Wild Cherry Pepsi McDonalds Extra Polar Ice Gum Adidas contentville.com Pringles DigitalBackPack.com Byebyenow.com  Mountain Dew ILN.net Stridex Wipe and Go Zelda.com Old Spice Red Zone Rice...
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Deceptive Advertising On Channel One’s Web Site

December 8, 2000

"WIN A $25 MUSIC GIFT CERTIFICATE! Everyone’s familiar with the song ‘Jingle Bells’. It’s traditional. It’s classic. But ChannelOne.com wants to liven things up a bit by giving YOU the opportunity to WRITE YOUR OWN NEW LYRICS to the tune of this very old song! ChannelOne.com will choose the song with the best lyrics...
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Channelone.com – “You can’t do news worse than this.”

November 23, 2000
Channelone.com – “You can’t do news worse than this.”

How important is getting news to children for the Channel One Network? Well, if you have read this web site for the pass few years, you know already that getting news to children is not a high priority for our marketing friends at Channel One. Jim Ritts is the head of this "teen news...
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More Privacy Problems

November 21, 2000

A review of one advertiser on Channel One’s web site has been completed and there is bad news for parents. Digitalbackpack.com has solicited personal information from children who are funneled to their site by the Channel One Network. Channel One enlisted hundreds of school teachers and principals to hand out advertising for Digitalbackpack.com in...
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New Dot.Com Uses Teachers, Principals In Promotion Effort

November 16, 2000

Can you imagine a public school teacher, during school, handing out advertising material for a private company? Taxpayers again took a body blow by the resourceful Channel One marketing team. During the recent disastrous "OneVote" mock election (less than 900,000 students participated), Channel One distributed ballots that were little more than an advertisement for...
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I Visited About.com. (soon to be a sister company of Channel One)

November 14, 2000

From Jim Metrock: I spent a good portion of yesterday surfing around a web site called About.com. This is the company that Channel One’s parent company, Primedia, Inc., wants to merge with. The press release below explains our concerns about this merger. I just wanted to add some thoughts after treading through the gutter...
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“All Request Thursdays” Bring Rock, Rap Back Into Classrooms

November 12, 2000
“All Request Thursdays” Bring Rock, Rap Back Into Classrooms

    Channel One Blasts Destiny’s Child Into America’s Schools   Punk Band Green Day Gets Their Day In Class Via Channel One   Baha Men Let "The Dogs Out" In Your Child’s Classroom   November 12, 2000 -"All Request Thursdays" Bring Rock, Rap Back Into Classrooms For years, Channel One played music on...
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Is Primedia Getting Into the Pornography Business?

November 9, 2000

For Immediate Release: For More Information Contact: Thursday, November 9, 2000 Gary Ruskin (202) 296-2787 Jim Metrock (205) 612-3376 Following the announcement of a proposed merger between Primedia Inc. and About.com Inc., two media watchdog groups raised questions regarding whether it was proper and appropriate for Primedia, a large media company, to merge with...
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Channel One Advertises Sexually Charged “Charlie’s Angels”

November 6, 2000
Channel One Advertises Sexually Charged “Charlie’s Angels”

From Jim Metrock: On November 3, Channel One executives gave the go-ahead to force feed millions of schoolchildren a commercial for the sexually charged and violent PG13 movie "Charlie’s Angels." Obligation will have more information shortly. A middle school is monitoring and making copies of Channel One for us so that parents across the...
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New Discovery Concerning A Violent Movie Pushed By Channel One

November 3, 2000
New Discovery Concerning A Violent Movie Pushed By Channel One

From Jim Metrock: "Killer at Thurston High" was the name of tonight’s Frontline news show on PBS. It was an incredible journey back into the life of the Oregon school shooter, Kip Kinkle. It showed that many different factors came into play to shape this young man. His relationship with his father was difficult,...
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Channel One Continues to Promote Eddie Murphy’s Dirty Movie

November 1, 2000

Months after Channel One urged children to see the premiere of the gross-out PG13 movie The Nutty Professor – The Klumps, the Channel One web site is still promoting the film. Channel One encouraged children to enter a contest to win Eddie Murphy prizes. The children had to write about a teacher and why they were crazy – or...
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Halloween Comes A Day Early for Primedia

October 31, 2000
Halloween Comes A Day Early for Primedia

Channel One’s parent company is Primedia, Inc. Primedia is primarily a magazine publisher and it is 72% owned by Kohlberg Kravis and Roberts a leverage buyout firm. Yesterday, Primedia announced a merge with About.com. The resulting sell off of Primedia stock certainly must have spooked Primedia’s management lead by Tom Rogers. The stock dropped...
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Scantily Clad Actress Parades For Preteens and High Schoolers in Channel One Commercial

October 31, 2000
Scantily Clad Actress Parades For Preteens and High Schoolers in Channel One Commercial

  Channel One executives just can’t pass up the money that movie studios wave beneath their noses. On October 6, Channel One ran a commercial in middle schools around the country for a PG13 movie called “Pay It Forward.” To get the kids’ attention a partially-clothed Helen Hunt is prominently shown in the classroom commercial. Children see Helen...
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Mock Election Documents Channel One’s Stunning Decline

October 27, 2000

Channel One set up a mock election ("OneVote") that doubled as an advertising vehicle for a new dot.com company called DigitalBackPack.com and for a massive self-promotion for Channel One itself. Channel One made a major effort to get schoolchildren in schools that still have Channel One to sign up and vote in the election...
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Contract With Schools Continues To Be Breached

October 19, 2000

Check out the length of Channel One’s show during September. They are still violating the contract they themselves wrote. 12 minutes is the maximum for a Channel One show. That is what schools signed up for. This wholesale violation of the contract may well make the contract null and void. It certainly makes it...
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PA Students Continue to Protest Channel One

October 13, 2000

Ken McNatt and other students in Oil City, Pennsylvania and other nearby cities are expanding their new organization, Students Against Commercialized Classrooms Organization (SACCO). As we reported earlier, Ken McKatt began SACCO to address Channel One’s presence in his high school. , “SACCO has already grown beyond my expectations. We have 23 total members....
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New Feature – Video Clips From Channel One

October 7, 2000

What exactly is Channel One trying to sell our students? Well, now you can see for yourself as you sit in front of your computer. You can now view specific Channel One commercials taken from actual tapes that came from America’s classrooms. It is often very difficult to get tapes of Channel One shows...
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Senator Brownback, What Are You Doing Working For Channel One?

October 3, 2000

NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release: For More Information Contact: Friday, September 29, 2000 Gary Ruskin (202) 296-2787 Jim Metrock (205) 612-3376 Brownback Carries Water for Company That Promotes Violent Entertainment to Schoolchildren Conservative and progressive organizations and scholars today criticized Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) for his work as "chief Senate apologist" for Primedia’s Channel...
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MO Student Begins Web Site Opposing Channel One in His School

September 22, 2000

A high school junior in Oak Grove, MO has started a web site that offers information for those who oppose Channel One. Jonathan Harm’s school has Channel One and ZapMe! Channel One officials have always thought that students were mindless robots that love anything that is on TV, especially if it takes away from...
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An Email to Channel One’s President Jim Ritts

September 16, 2000

Dear Mr. Ritts: Please instruct your sales department and Dr. Folkemer to immediately refrain from advertising violent entertainment on your show. As you know, Channel One has systematically marketed violent entertainment to schoolchildren. (Sorry, got the tapes and, as you know, the FTC invited me to show them your company’s ads for violent entertainment....
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GAO Study on Commercialism in Schools Prominently Mentions Channel One

September 14, 2000

On September 14, the General Accounting Office issued a report documenting the rapid rise of commercialism in public schools. Channel One’s type of commercialism is only one type, albeit, in our minds it is one of the most outrageous. The report which made news across the country is: GAO/HEHS-00-156 Public Education: Commercial Activities in...
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Obligation Participates in Demonstration Against “Golden Marble” Awards in NYC

September 14, 2000

Shamelessly advertisers and marketers sat in the Grand Hyatt Hotel on September 14 and handed out "Golden Marble" awards to honor the best advertising to children. These advertisers also had two days of seminars on how to more effectively manipulate children and to get a large portion of their allowance money. It was no...
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