Complaints Lodged with RTE concerning the promotion of Google to School Children

by Mark C - ASTi (Pers. Caps.) Wed Dec 03, 2008 17:42 oscailt at indymedia dot ie

Below is the text of a letter/email campaign that has been initiated by CCFE. Please copy/paste it and send it to:

complaints@rte.ie
theden@rte.ie

Regards,
Mark Conroy.
_____________________ begins _____________________

Dear ____________

I would like to register a complaint regarding a report on children's news show News2Day (19 Nov 2008) about the "Doodle 4 Google" promotion in schools.

This commercaial promotion (sent unsolicited to schools) asks teachers to make the sponsors' corporate logo the focus of art lessons for school children as young as 5 years of age. Your report, aimed at children of primary school age, gave glowing, uncritical coverage to the marketing scheme and featured children from Tiermohan NS in Kildare studying Google's logo as well as comment from a company spokesperson.

My objection is based on the following grounds:

a) RTE shouldn't be packaging commercial marketing initatives as childrens' programming.
b) If publicity is to be given to a commercial promotion in schools, it must acknowledge that there is a strong opposing perspective and present balanced coverage.

a)
The "Doodle 4 Google" competition is a marketing promotion. Google are NOT featured in the Visual Arts Curriculum for Primary Schools. The entry guidelines read "Please ensure that the Google logo is clearly visible and recognisable." "Write the word 'Google' on the board and show the pupils a print out of the logo template."

Bland promotion of such a commercially-driven exercise is not "providing News and Current Affairs that is fair and impartial, accurate and challenging" (RTE's Strategic Framework Values p1)

RTE which commits to "ensure that children are respected as young citizens with a valued contribution to make and a voice of their own" (Public Broadcasting Charter p3) should not be airing soft-focus "Advertorials" straight from the marketing department to the childrens' TV.

b)
Notwithstanding our own Campaign, there exists a solid consensus among educators that children should not be subject to commercial marketing in school. This established position was lamentably absent in this one sided, promotional report.

The INTO have stated, (June 07) : "Commercial logos, slogans, brand names or product orientated activities should not be presented to children in class either through posters, worksheets or certificates."

The Irish Primary Principals Network concur that (Feb 07): "The promotion of commercial products, aimed at a captive audience of children in schools, contravenes and undermines many of the core values of education."

Other RTE reports on commercial advertising (For example see http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0107/6news_av.html?2323434,...l,230), have been fair and balanced in their presentation of the issues - the same could not be said of the report on 19th November which was broadcast directly to children.

In closing I would like to see "impartial, accurate and challenging" reporting of this important issue. Perhaps you would consider a feature on one of the 13 primary schools recently awarded Commercial-Free status by the INTO in recognition of the their policy to protect children from the kind of commercial-exploitation so lauded in the News2Day report.

Regards,

Your Name Here

_____________________ ends _____________________

by southern comfort - Judean Popular Peoples' Front Thu Dec 04, 2008 10:12

I thought that google was based here? Schoolkids will want to know of its existence, and the cleverer ones will learn more from it than from school.

Only once have I tried an ad alongside google, and the link didn't work. So much for its whizzo commercialism....

by paul o toole Thu Dec 04, 2008 10:33

This is nothing short of branding.
The success of branding is absolute and exploits one of the greatest of human failings and weaknesses. Kids so young exposed to capitalist marketing and such pre-conditioning is an outrage. They get enough of that crap in everyday life, but getting it in school now and promoted by RTE (Refuse to Tell the Electorate), leaves one reeling in astonishment
Google or yahoo. Nike or rebok. Coke or pepsi. War on terror or terror, your with us or against us. It is disgusting to see such blatant branding on school children so young. There is no room to allow critical analysis of anything small or large in the classroom these days- not that there ever was much to begin with. The school criculum is being hi-jacked from first level through to 3rd level through corporatising education to the point where schools are sending out robots to sit in front of computers all day till they die to serve their masters of a capitalist profit making machine where the human element is almost non existent. Or the new yuppy type of marketeering class, with its buzz words and participation in the 'team' is how you will ensure your enlightenment.
Was it Hitler said....'give me a child till he is five and i will own him for life.... This is it folks....The Fourth Reich................only exaggerating.

by Cian Mon Dec 08, 2008 20:00

I think it was the Jesuits actually!