Despite the obvious
commercial-centric nature of Channel One, and despite the fact that I was subjected to the
broadcasts for
four consecutive years, I actually didn't think they were terribly bad.
Granted, the anchors were often corny and tried way too hard to be cool, but I remember quite a lot of good investigative reporting going on. In fact, I recall that Lisa Ling would quite frequently be sent halfway around the world on these crazy (and often illegal) trips to places like Iraq, China, and Russia. I remember these particular reports because they were so damn gutsy...you don't see major news networks doing this kind of stuff.
I actually think Channel One is a fairly good thing. Sure, kids are being pounded with advertising, but that's nothing new. The good thing is that Channel One keeps kids informed on current events. If not for that 13-minute broadcast every morning, I'd have been totally clueless as to what was going on in the world during my junior high years.
Then again, there was that one time where they had Carrot Top as a guest anchor. Shudder.