CNN backing off bid to sell sponsorships on school program

NEW YORK -- CNN is backing off from a plan to sell sponsorships on "CNN Student News," a program it produces for classrooms that has been commercial-free since its start in 1989.

Earlier this year, the network had floated the idea of introducing advertising, distressing activists who always saw CNN as a "purer" news alternative for schools than the Channel One service.

"It's not worth the trouble," said Turner Broadcasting System spokesman Brad Turell.

A textbook company had already expressed interest in buying a sponsorship, but CNN hadn't completed the deal, he said.

CNN founder Ted Turner had touted the non-commercial nature of the program, formerly called "CNN Newsroom." Teachers are instructed to tape the half-hour show of news reports geared to middle and high school students when it's shown each school day at 3:30 a.m.

About 18,000 schools worldwide use "CNN Student News," the network said.

It's the chief competition to Channel One, a service started in 1990 that broadcasts a 10-minute news program, plus two minutes of commercials, to more than 12,000 schools, including some in Southeast Missouri. Channel One provides video equipment to schools in return for a promise to show their program to students.

The national Parent-Teacher Association, which believes that children "should not be used as a pawn in commercial enterprises," has recommended that schools show the CNN program instead of dealing with Channel One, said PTA President Shirley Igo.

CNN believed it was unfair to compare what it was planning with Channel One, which uses product ads similar to those on commercial TV. Under guidelines CNN had prepared, the sponsor would be allowed to identify itself for up to 10 seconds at the beginning of a segment, and an on-screen logo would be repeated later.