Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Conclusion: Wrap Up of Channel One

Channel One's presence in schools is not appropriate in the classroom environment due to its commercialism. Shown in almost half of the U.S. middle schools and high schools, Channel One is not the daily news show its owners claim. Rather, Channel One is simply a promotional vehicle for its sponsors' products. It is true that schools have the option to enter into a contract with Channel One. However, with the recent explosion of technology and its educational benefits, it is perfectly understandable that less fortunate schools enters into these contracts to receive an upgrade in technology. According to Channel One's advertising policy, the ads presented through this program will be "truthful and tasteful". Through studies and analysis of this program, it is clear that Channel One has not lived up to its policy. Although portrayed as a news program, Channel One seems to be heavy on the fluff/ads and light on the news. Although there is potential for teachers to engage students in classroom discussions of current events shown on Channel One, this rarely occurs as the program airs during non-instructional class periods. To many, Channel One has not added value to students academics and has mostly brought up issues concerning wasted class time and taxpayers' dollars, its emphasis on materialistic values, promotion of unhealthy messages, etc among parents, educators, and policymakers. Originally started in New York, it has recently been banned from all New York public schools and other states such as Oregon and California soon followed. Taking all of this into consideration, what does this tell us about Channel One's educational benefits? Although some may argue a number of points to support this program ,it is clear that it is not appropriate for classroom learning.

3 comments:

TruthAboutMikey said...

Reading through your blog - one question comes to mind. Is the Channel One format inherently not educational or is it just a problem of this specific implementation? If a non-profit were to produce something similar and find a way to finance the programs without commercials, would this alleviate many of the programs w/ Channel One? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Anonymous said...

CHANNEL ONE OD'D BY TAKING A POTENTIAL GOOD PROGRAM AND MAKING IT DETRIMENTAL TO UNDERPRIVILEGED SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES. I AGREE, IT SEEMED DECENT ON THE SURFACE BUT NOW IT LOOKS TO BE MORE OF A DISTRACTION AND CONDUIT FOR ADVERTISING AND MAKING MONEY. TISK, TISK

Cornell Cultural Research Group said...

In response to David's posting, I think different forms of media channels offer many advantages to education when used in the correct context. Mass communication research has shown in recent years that contrary to popular belief, children do not blankly stare at a television screen and let the "bad TV vibes" suck their brains away. In fact, children are actively processing the information and scanning for information they familiar with. So it seems to me that television, if used properly, could really help students in the proper learning contexts. Unfortunately there are a myriad of problems that get in the way of this experience such as bad teaching, inappropriate spatial environments, miscommunication, social ineptitudes, etc.

But here's another question for you: Is Channel One outdated?