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• I am reblogging this because, coincidentally, I just got off the phone with my mom, who works in education. She was telling me about all the protesting parents are doing in her district on behalf of their children. “My kids don’t need to be brainwashed by that commie!,” they say. My mom and I agreed that people are being stupid about this.

  I enjoyed Channel One News as a student. It was always a welcome break from my education. Lisa Ling got her start there!

  lonelysandwich:

  Channel One News

  In 2006, the American Academy of Pediatrics reported that research indicated that children who watched Channel One remembered the commercials more than they remembered the news.

  Buzz Andersen told me once about this thing he remembers from elementary school where every day during class, the teacher had to turn on the TV and everybody had to watch some news programming which had been heavily subsidized by corporate interests and was supported by advertising and product placement. And this was in public school. I was incredulous, but it turns out to be true, and so beautiful in an Infinite Jesty kind of way. From the wiki:

  Channel One was founded in 1989 and began with a pilot program in four high schools before its national rollout in 1990…It was founded by Christopher Whittle, a business executive based in Knoxville, Tennessee. Primedia purchased Channel One for approximately $250 million from Whittle in 1994.

  Another choice bit:

  Channel One’s contract with schools requires that the 15-minute program must be shown on 90% of all regular school days. The teachers are also instructed to make sure students watch the complete program and leave the volume at an audible level throughout the whole program, including the advertising content.

  Today, I was reminded of this by the uproar over the Department of Education’s plan to distribute Obama’s upcoming address to students. I’ll add no editorial commentary to this.

  3 Sep 2009 / 14 notes