Jim Metrock

  Obligation sent a request/press release to each Birmingham-area school system that is still showing Channel One urging them to send home a warning to parents and students of the dangers of Internet chat rooms, especially the Channel One chat room since that is being advertised to students almost daily in school. So far, we have received no response from...
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Press Release October 9, 1997 Contact: Jim Metrock 205-822-0080 “Channel One” Schools Urged To Warn Parents About Internet Chat Rooms “>(Birmingham, AL) Channel One, a controversial in-school TV show, is urging children to visit its Internet web site and its chat room and parents should be warned, says a local child advocacy group. Jim Metrock, president of Obligation, Inc., said,...
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This article presented Obligation’s view of Channel One and the opposing view. The article was written by Elizabeth Wine (ewine@postherald.com or 205-325-2308). Although no local superintendent was quoted, State Superintendent Ed Richardson was. “(Richardson) said that the trade-off of advertising for technology is ‘an unfortunate dilemma’ but adds that he’s not too worried about the effects of advertising on students.”...
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Although Channel One says a school may show its TV show from 12th grade to 6th, they state repeatedly, in their own contract and sales literature, that the show is intended for teenagers. This ambiguity puts middle school principals and their superintendents and school boards in an awkward position. 6th and 7th grade students...
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Alabama schoolchildren are being robbed and taxpayers are getting fleeced by a TV show. Even though it has been denounced by virtually every major educational organization, many Montgomery-area schoolchildren are forced to watch Channel One. Channel One is the controversial 12-minute news show that is designed for a teenage consumer audience. Two minutes are...
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Who are the national advertisers on Channel One? If you are monitoring Channel One in your community email Obligation with the names of the products and services you see on the show. Parents and other taxpayers need to know who the corporations are that underwrite this controversial TV show. We will be adding a...
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Obligation contributed information for a superb article in the Wall Street Journal today. It centered on one small part of the Channel One Problem: using principals as lackeys for Channel One advertisers. Principals have handed out Arizona jeans discount coupons and kept petitions for students to sign for a Reebok promotion. Snapple, Pepsi, and...
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  Obligation has received calls from Kansas to Florida, Minnesota to Massachusetts, asking for information about Channel One. Our organization has been swamped, and we again apologize for the length of time it has taken to respond to calls and to get packets of information out. If you have Channel One, this would be a suggested course of action:...
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Dr. Ed Richardson State Superintendent of Education State Department of Education P. O. Box 302101 Montgomery, AL 36130-2101 Dear Dr. Richardson: Obligation, Inc. requests a list of all state public schools that have a contract that requires the showing of the Channel One television show. At present, there appears to be no accounting, at...
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  (Birmingham, AL) The companion website for the controversial in-school TV show Channel One has generated controversy of its own. The TV show and website both have a target audience of teens and pre-teens, yet this summer the Channel One website reviewed raunchy R-rated movies for kids. Obligation is a Birmingham-based child advocacy organization. It has monitored all aspects...
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