ERIC Number: ED366688
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1993-Oct-13
Pages: 32
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Channel One in the Public Schools: Widening the Gaps.
Morgan, Michael
Channel One, an in-school television program, provides a centrally prepared, 10-minute daily newscast accompanied by 2 minutes of commercials. Several states ban Channel One because of concerns about providing advertisers such direct access to students within the walls of tax-supported public school buildings. This paper examines what kinds of schools and what sorts of communities choose to receive Channel One, and where Channel One fits in the pool of educational resources. The study used the data archives of Market Data Retrieval, which involves 17,344 public schools and covers grades 7 through 12, revealing some of the following items: (1) Channel One is most often found in low income area schools, where it is often used instead of traditional educational materials when resources are scarcest; (2) schools that can afford to spend more on their students are much less likely to utilize Channel One; (3) Channel One is more often shown to the students who are least able to afford to buy all the products advertised, thus increasing a sense of alienation and frustration; and (4) increasing commercialization of the culture and the schools suggests a shutting out of other voices and interests of the educational system. The study suggests that the use of Channel One in low-income, socioeconomically deprived schools presents an illusion of providing more and better educational facilities which only contributes to widening the societal gap. (Contains six references.) (GLR)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Administrators; Teachers; Practitioners
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A