If this all sounds vaguely familiar, perhaps it's because similar ground was plowed by Channel One, an ad-supported televised news program to be aired during classtime. Corporations like Procter & Gamble and Reebok International pumped an estimated $100 m illion into advertising on the 12-minute "news"casts last year. In the four years since Whittle Communication introduced Channel One, the number of schools buying in has skyrocketed from 400 to 12,000.
Despite the occasional critic, corporate sponsorship of the public school system is a wave of the future. Also kicking off this fall is KidsNews, a joint venture between Petry, Conus Communications, Hubbard Broadcasting and SCOT Communications. Supported through advertising, KidsNews offers schools videos and posters addressing topical issues. Hasbro, Hershey Chocolate and Quaker Oats are among the companies signed as charter sponsors. Unlike commercial TV advertisers, those on KidsNews make their pitch v ia warm 'n' fuzzy PBS-style logos. Though somewhat akin to advertisers on old-school radio and television, these sponsors can mask their economic motives as wholesome charity.
Economic info-schemes don't have to be a bad thing. They're only dangerous when used the way corporations intended- as a time-killer for overburdened teachers. But there is another way to use commercialized media. Groups like Citizens For Media Literacy in Asheville fight the Channel One virus by subverting it- by developing programs to teach critical Channel One viewing skills. In a hypermediated environment where commercial motives drive to saturate every last thoughtspace, such strategies are key to a ny education. (Carrie McLaren)