Groups ask states to investigate Channel One's payments to school employees

[Gary Ruskin]

Commercial Alert				August 27, 2001

Commercial Alert and Obligation Inc. sent letters today to state
officials in all 50 states requesting an investigation of an offer by
Channel One, an in-school marketing company, to pay $500 to public
school employees in exchange for convincing a school principal to enter
into a contract to receive Channel One's product. 

The groups, which oppose the commercialization of schools, sent the
letters to state attorneys general and chief state school officers in
all 50 states, as well as to the heads of state ethics agencies.  As an
example, following is the letter to Massachusetts Attorney General Tom
Reilly.

Dear Attorney General Reilly:

This letter is a formal request for an investigation of the "Share It
Program" conducted by Channel One Communications Corporation ("Channel
One"), a school-based marketing company owned by Primedia Inc. Through
this program, Channel One is offering $500 to public school employees in
the State of Massachusettsfor convincing a school principal to enter
into a contract to receive the Channel One service.

In effect, Channel One is hiring Massachusetts's public school employees
to promote its controversial product.  This is a conflict of interest
for school employees.  Public employment is a public trust -- which is
violated when employees use their public positions for private gain. 
Public school employees should not act as paid agents of private
corporations.  It is not the proper role of public school employees to
be a roving sales team for Channel One's efforts to commercialize the
schools.  Such activities are wholly inconsistent with the conscientious
performance of school employees' duties to the taxpayers who pay their
salaries.

We urge you to determine whether state ethics laws and rules --
especially those related to conflicts of interest or outside earned
income -- allow Channel One to pay public school employees to use the
color of their public position for private gain.  If such payments do
violate state ethics rules or law, then we urge you to investigate
Channel One, and to identify and take all appropriate action against
every public school employee in the State of Massachusetts whom Channel
One has paid.

If you have any questions about this matter, or want more information,
please call Jim Metrock at 205.612.3376 or Gary Ruskin at 503.235.8012.

Sincerely,

Jim Metrock, President, Obligation, Inc.
Gary Ruskin, Executive Director, Commercial Alert
	<----letter ends here---->

Commercial Alert's mission is to keep the commercial culture within its
proper sphere, and to prevent it from exploiting children and subverting
the higher values of family, community, environmental integrity and
democracy.  For more information, see Commercial Alert's website at
<http://www.commercialalert.org>.

Obligation's mission is to remind businesses and governments of their
responsibility to children.  For more information, see Obligation's
website at <http://www.obligation.org/>.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CHANNEL ONE
See Commercial Alert's web page on Channel One at
<http://www.commercialalert.org/channel_one/index.html>.

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PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY
-- 
Gary Ruskin | gary@essential.org 
Commercial Alert | http://www.commercialalert.org
Congressional Accountability Project | http://www.congressproject.org
phone: 503.235.8012 | fax: 503.235.5073