TIME: Almanac 1990/1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso/time/022089/02208900.086

Text File | 1990-09-17 | 4KB | 70 lines

EDUCATION, Page 88

Wooing a Captive Audience

A controversial plan to beam news -- and ads -- into classrooms


    Christopher Whittle has a high-tech answer for the problem of
cultural illiteracy among American students. Beginning next month,
his Knoxville-based Whittle Communications firm will beam Channel
One, a slick news program for teenagers, directly into schools for
a seven-week test period. Whittle has provided each of the six
pilot schools with $50,000 worth of television sets and satellite
equipment to use as they wish. The only requirement: each day
students will have to watch a twelve-minute Channel One broadcast
-- including two minutes of ads.

    Whittle's plan to introduce commercial television into the
classroom has sparked considerable controversy. "I think it's
appalling and greedy," says Arnold Fege of the national PTA.
Whittle counters that the venture will not only inform students
about current events but also provide schools with valuable
hardware to increase learning opportunities. "The equipment we
install has enormous secondary benefits," he claims.

    Few educators object to the idea of the news program itself.
Modeled on the Today show and Good Morning America, Channel One
will be a fast-paced montage of news headlines, facts and features,
along with a focus piece examining one story in depth. The young
announcers, who include Kenny Rogers Jr., son of the
country-and-western singer, will even spring pop quizzes on their
viewers. Example: Which of these two is older, the pyramids or the
Great Wall of China? (Answer: the pyramids.)

    However, each program will also carry four 30-second ads,
causing some educators to worry about the encroachment of
commercialism on the classroom. "Do we want our young people to get
the idea from school that buying fast food is as important as
learning when Columbus discovered America?" asks Patricia Albjerg
Graham, dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Adds
Bella Rosenberg, an official at the American Federation of
Teachers: "By showing commercials, schools are implicitly endorsing
the product." Others charge that principals are selling their
students' souls for a pile of high-tech hardware. Says Peggy
Charren, who heads Action for Children's Television: "They see
stars in their eyes in the shape of television sets."

    Administrators at some pilot schools admit that the lure of
free equipment influenced their decisions to air the program. But
other officials insist that they chose Channel One primarily on its
merits. "Some people assume we're mindless dolts and victims of
rampant commercialism," says Thomas Sharkey, principal of Billerica
Memorial High School in Billerica, Mass. "I consider this the best
form of corporate-school partnership." David Bennett,
superintendent of the St. Paul school district, cites lack of
public funds as a key reason why schools would accept the offer.

    If the $5 million pilot succeeds, Whittle will open Channel One
to schools nationwide. He hopes to have signed up as many as 10,000
schools by 1990, giving the program an audience of up to 7 million.
The estimated cost to Whittle Communications, half of which is
owned by Time Inc., would be $100 million dollars. Already 70% of
the pilot's ad time has been sold, with the rest likely to be gone
by next month. While Whittle will not release sponsors' names,
product categories include sneakers, food and toiletries. Whittle
pledges there will be no ads for alcohol, tobacco or
contraceptives.

    Whether Channel One will succeed with its captive audience is
yet to be seen. Early reviews from students who saw a prototype
program were generally favorable. "I thought it was very
interesting and informative," said Hajir Ardebili, a seventh-grader
at Eisenhower Middle School in Kansas City, Kans. He had one
familiar reservation: "Too many commercials."