CHANNEL ONE

WHEN I was still gainfully employed and living off the teaching dole, Channel One was introduced to our high school. Against an uproar by various teachers.

For the twelve minutes of daily news hosted by Anderson Cooper and Lisa Ling, there were two minutes of commercials. That seemed to cause a rash of complaints. That the school was selling out to advertisers.

For me it was a boon. I was equipped with a tv in my classroom which meant I didn't have to reserve one in the library, have two able bodied students carry it down a steep flight of stairs to my room. Return the tv when my time was up whether or not I might need it an additional day.

Plus, during my conference period, I could turn on a baseball game or check on a score between classes. Although not certain, I think each teacher also received a VCR in addition to the tv for the privilege of allowing Channel One in the classroom. So it all good for me.

At that time, even the left wing bias of Cooper and Ling didn't shine through. Maybe because they were young and upcoming, but I think that the media was much more fair back then than now.

So were I teaching today and Channel One offered the same deal including Anderson and Lisa, I'd have to be on the anti-Channel One side. Not because of commercials, though I detest them especially since they all seem to be shown at the same time now, ruining my advanced ability to channel surf and watch two shows or even three at once without the use of PIP.

I am totally against slanted reporting. Which used to be called yellow journalism. In today's media, I'd add canary before the first adjective. And start looking for the biggest guys in class to make that carry from the library.