From Jim Metrock: I have heard it too often from the Channel One hacks
– "You can’t get rid of Channel One at your school because we are
the only source of news for many of the students."
I have learned to control my gag reflex when I hear that, but I still
shake my head. If Channel One News is a young person’s only, or main, source
of news, then that young person has no idea of what is going on in the
world.
Today is a perfect example of Channel One’s lack of concern for providing
the news to young people. Today is the day after Thanksgiving Day. Channel
One employees are nowhere to be found. They were gone yesterday and they
will be "off of the office" tomorrow and the day after that.
The "pretend reporters", "pretend news producers" and
even the web site personnel for Channel One News are long gone. They are
enjoying a long weekend away from the news and the students that depend
on Channel One News to keep them informed (if there are any).
Channel One News has the resources to put on a news program several times
a day and stream the video on their web site – but they have elected not
to do it. Each weekend, Channel One News shuts down, except for the posting
of some AP stories on their web site. Even that is pathetic.
A young person compelled to watch Channel One News during the school day
is told repeatedly by Channel One anchors to go to Channelone.com for more
news stories. If a young person went to Channelone.com this morning they
would not find anything about the bombing of the Mombasa hotel in Kenya
which is the top story in every newspaper and on every TV news show. There
is no mention of the the vote of confidence Turkish Prime Minister Gul
won in the Parliamentary General Assembly. There is not one word about
the latest on the weapons inspection in Iraq. A Census Bureau report out
today says that major cities are more integrated because of the movement
of whites to urban areas and blacks to the suburbs over the last two decades.
Channel One News is shut down so this story will have to wait.
Here are the top stories according to Channel One News for November 29,
2002:
"Top Stories
Plagiarism Penalty: Students Expelled in Cheating
Scandal
Send a Holiday Greeting to Afghanistan
Avalanche of Applications Expected at Nation’s Colleges
Give and Take: Food Bank Donors Become Clients
Students Get $7 Million for Mistake"
These are AP stories that are just cut and pasted from the AP wire by
the Channel One web master. They are AP stories that have a connection
to teenagers. This is old stuff and has nothing to do with the real "top
stories" of the day.
The reason Channel One News doesn’t update young people at night or on
the weekends or over the summer months or over holidays is because Channel
One News is not a news organization. Channel One News is an advertising
gimmick that has just enough news content to make a lazy school official
think he or she is giving students something of value.
If you add up the weekends, holidays and summer months that Channel One
shuts down, then nearly half of the year Channel One News does not produce
any daily newscast. Channel One News employees have a lot to be thankful
for this Thanksgiving Day. If anyone knows of easier work, email me at jmetrock@obligation.org.
