Marine School

January 15, 2008

The U.S. Marines are a major advertiser on Channel One News. Today students watched a "news" story about a public school run by the Marines.

Why was this very long story on classroom TV sets all across the nation? It is not an important story. It is not hard news. There is no information in this report that would help students pass any achievement test. The reason, of course, is Channel One’s helping an advertiser promote their "brand" with kids. Stories that are part feature story and part advertisement are routine on the classroom TV program.

Above: Students are shown learning "The Marines’ Hymn’ in music class.

Above: Channel One’s camera zooms in on a Marine recruitment poster in this video story that is nothing less than a long-form ad for the Marines.

Nowhere in the report does the reporter disclose that the Marines are a major advertiser. This is just the latest in a long line of "advertorials" that mock journalism.

Above: This no-too-subtle graphic pops up on the screen.

On today’s webcast Channel One blocked out all the regular commercial spots but more than likely based on past experience the Marines probably had a recruitment ad before this feature story on the Marine high school.

In the transcript below it is ironic that the Channel One reporter Jessica Kumari says, "NOT EVERYONE THINKS THAT’S A GOOD THING. SOME CRITICS OF THESE SCHOOLS FEEL THAT THEY ARE TARGETING LOWER INCOME AND MINORITY TEENAGERS TO BOOST RECRUITMENT AS THE U.S. CONTINUES TO FIGHT WARS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN."

Excuse us, but that is the same criticism of Channel One. Channel One is disproportionately found in schools in lower-income areas. The military services know that very well. Working with Channel One for over a decade they have pounded these young captive students with extremely powerful recruitment commercials. Suburban middle-class students don’t see all the Army, Navy, Air Force, National Guard and Marine ads that lower-income students see on their Channel One TV sets.

Below: Channel One directs kids to their web site where there is more military recruitment advertising and "advertorials."

 

From the Channel One News transcript for January 15, 2008
COMMERCIAL

CHRIS: AS YOU KNOW, SOME PUBLIC SCHOOLS REQUIRE STUDENTS TO WEAR
UNIFORMS EVERYDAY, BUT AT CHICAGO’S NEW MARINE MILITARY ACADEMY THE
UNIFORMS AND THE DISCIPLINE ARE MILITARY ISSUE?

CHRIS: ADMINISTRATORS SAY THE DRILLING IS GOOD ENOUGH REASON FOR
SUCCESS AND AS JESSICA KUMARI REPORTS DESPITE SOME CRITICS, THE
STUDENTS SEEM TO AGREE.

(SOT: ) "Alright, shut up. Shut up! Get out!"

JESSICA: BREAKFAST IS OVER AT CHICAGO’S MARINE MILITARY ACADEMY. BY
8:06 EVERY MORNING, THE STUDENTS MUST BE IN FORMATION AND READY FOR
INSTRUCTION.

(SOT: ) YES, SIR.

JESSICA: BUT THERE’S A REASON THE NORMAL DRILL HERE LOOKS LIKE BASIC
TRAINING, THIS PUBLIC SCHOOL IS THE FIRST IN THE NATION TO BE RUN BY
THE U.S. MARINES.

JESSICA: IT OPENED IN AUGUST AND RIGHT NOW ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT
FRESHMEN ARE THE SCHOOL’S ONLY STUDENTS.

(SOT: Shermayne Davis) “They teach you the military basics. You have to
do two pushups for every one, so it’s like, ‘1 and 2’ and that’s one
whole pushup.”

JESSICA: THE STUDENTS ARE SPLIT INTO PLATOONS, MILITARY-SPEAK FOR TEAMS
AND THEY CYCLE THROUGH THEIR CLASSES TOGETHER.

JESSICA: THERE’S THE OLD STANDARDS BAND, MATH AND SCIENCE AND OF COURSE
THERE’S THE JUNIOR RESERVE OFFICERS TRAINING CORPS.

(SOT: Morris Wilson) “JROTC, and that’s basically like the military
side of it where we learn the military style and the chain of command
and the general orders and stuff.”

JESSICA: AND THEN THERE ARE THE UNIFORMS, WHICH ALSO SET THIS SCHOOL
APART.

(SOT: Shermayne Davis) “Some people wear theirs, but they hate it and
they want to hurry up and change out of it. But, when I first got mine,
I didn’t even want to take it off. So we wear our uniforms with pride.”

JESSICA: CHICAGO HAS THE MOST MILITARY-AFFILIATED PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS
IN THE COUNTRY. THERE ARE ALREADY NAVY AND ARMY SCHOOLS AND IN 2009, AN
AIR FORCE HIGH SCHOOL WILL ALSO OPEN.

JESSICA: NOT EVERYONE THINKS THAT’S A GOOD THING. SOME CRITICS OF THESE
SCHOOLS FEEL THAT THEY ARE TARGETING LOWER INCOME AND MINORITY
TEENAGERS TO BOOST RECRUITMENT AS THE U.S. CONTINUES TO FIGHT WARS IN
IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN. BUT THE SCHOOL’S PRINCIPAL HAS ANOTHER TAKE.

(SOT: Paul Stroh) “Our goal is not to send anybody to the military, our
goal is to send them to post-secondary education.”

JESSICA: SHERMAYNE AGREES. SHE SAYS JUST BECAUSE SHE CAME TO THE MARINE
MILITARY ACADEMY, IT DOESN’T NECESSARILY MEAN SHE’LL ENLIST WHEN SHE
GRADUATES IN 2011.

(SOT: Shermayne Davis) “Me going here, I might recruit to the Marines,
because now as I’m wearing this uniform and I wear it with pride
everyday, I see that yeah, this is the type of life that I would like
to live. But then on the other hand, I say, oh I have other
opportunities open to me.”

JESSICA: JESSICA KUMARI, CHANNEL ONE NEWS.

ANNOUNCER: IF YOU WENT TO A MILITARY HIGH SCHOOL, WOULD YOU KNOW THE
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ROTC AND ASAP? GO TO CHANNEL ONE COT COM AND PLAY
THE MILITARY LINGO QUIZ TO FIND OUT IF YOU KNOW THE CODE.