NEWS RELEASE
For More Information Contact: Gary Ruskin and Jim Metrock (503) 235-8012
For Immediate Release: November 9th, 2000
Is Primedia Getting Into the Pornography Business?
Following the announcement of a proposed merger between Primedia Inc. and About.com Inc., two media watchdog groups raised questions regarding whether it was proper and appropriate for Primedia, a large media company, to merge with About.com, which generates an unspecified amount of revenue from Internet pornography.
Primedia owns several child-targeted magazines, such as Teen Beat and Seventeen, and Channel One, an in-school marketing company that delivers ten minutes of “lite” news and two minutes of advertising each schoolday to a captive audience of approximately eight million children.
About.com operates roughly 700 general interest websites, and several which appear to promote an extensive library of pornography. For example, About.com operates websites on “Adult Swinging,""Amateur Erotica,” and “Fetishism.” About.com’s adult film guide, “Margie S.” tells About.com patrons that her adult film newsletter will “give you the lowdown on the best xxx films & stars past & present with plenty of links to the hottest porno places.”
“Primedia shareholders have to look at themselves in the mirror and decide whether they wish to go into business partnership with porn peddlers,” said Gary Ruskin, Director of Commercial Alert.
“The mainstreaming of pornography is a national tragedy,” said Jim Metrock, President of Obligation, Inc. “About.com provides visitors with help in finding prostitutes, pornographic films, and links to sites like ‘TeenX—the Best Teen Site on the Web!’ and ‘All Teen Pix.’”
On October 23rd, The New York Times reported that some of the largest multinational corporations, such as AT&T and General Motors, are major distributors of pornography. “The General Motors Corporation, the world’s largest company, now sells more graphic sex films than does Larry Flynt, owner of the Hustler empire.”
“This is what’s worst about big business today—the incessant peddling of materialism, violence, pornography, addiction, self-indulgence and anti-social behavior,” Ruskin said. “The more cultural sewage, the better, as long as it’s profitable.”
Ruskin noted that this may be a cautionary tale for schools that bring corporate marketers into the classroom. “When you let the camel’s nose into the tent, you might end up getting the whole camel. Now the schools are starting to smell the camel,” Ruskin said.
“The public needs to know who is talking to their kids,” Metrock said. “I have serious concerns about Primedia’s influence on children with its Seventeen magazine and its very controversial Channel One program. If Internet porn is acceptable to Primedia, then the public will find Primedia an unacceptable provider of content to children.”
Ralph Reed, former Christian Coalition Executive Director, is a lobbyist for Primedia’s Channel One.
“Does Ralph Reed want to associate himself with a corporation that promotes ‘Schoolgirls4U’?” Ruskin asked.
Commercial Alert opposes corporate exploitation of children and the excesses of commercialism, advertising and marketing. Commercial Alert’s web page is at http://www.commercialalert.org.
Obligation, Inc. works to remind businesses and governments of their responsibility to children. Obligation’s website is at http://www.obligation.org/.
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