What the heck is this?!
Below: How to make a teacher feel like a fool.
November 12, 2001 – The Latest Insult To Teachers
Channel One has a big problem. Potential advertisers are staying away from Channel One because Channel One can’t give them accurate figures for its audience.
Many schools have kicked Channel One out. Many schools have simply stopped showing Channel One News. These schools are keeping the TV sets and have no fear of Channel One coming to take away the equipment. Channel One has been extremely tolerant of Alabama school districts that want to keep the Channel One equipment but don’t want to show the Channel One News show according to the contract terms.
Louis Pizitz Middle School in Birmingham is just one example of a school that has never honored the contract but they get to keep the equipment by special arrangement with Channel One.
In order to document their viewing numbers better, the Channel One folks in Norcross, Georgia came up with the idea of getting teachers to help. This is how it works:
At the end of the daily Channel One shows in September, October and some of November, Channel One flashed a unique code, such as "MOL764". The teacher is suppose to take time away from his or her duties as a public school teacher to write down this code so it can be sent to Channel One headquarters. These reports from schools will allow Channel One to tell advertisers that there are "X" number of students watching Channel One based on teachers correctly reporting the code for particular days.
The thinking is that if a teacher knows the code for the day, she or he must have shown the program to the captive audience of students. The code comes on the screen right after the Channel One News broadcast is over.
Although Channel One is dangling money in front of schools to help motivate them to help in this audience measuring process, Obligation believes that few schools will participate.
