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2 articles from 2005

30 March 2005 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

Comcast plans to announce on Monday that it will introduce a new commercial 24-hour digital cable channel aimed at preschoolers that will feature reruns of many of the programs for tots currently airing on PBS, the New York Times reported today (Wednesday). Comcast is partnering with PBS, Sesame Workshop and HIT Entertainment, producer of Barney and Friends and Bob the Builder. In an interview with the newspaper, Sesame Workshop's Joan Ganz Cooney remarked: "I don't like pitching products to young children and I never have. ... But to some degree that is nostalgia for a time that is past. The whole society, the whole business is so commercialized, even public television. This is another way of getting PBS's excellent programming to children." Education professor Nancy Carlsson Paige, who is a consultant for PBS flagship station WGBH Boston, told the Times: "We aren't adequately funding public television and public programming for children. PBS doesn't have enough funds and so they are doing this."

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24 January 2005 | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

A children's video starring SpongeBob SquarePants, Barney and a host of other cartoon favorites has been slapped with a gay alert warning by Christian Conservative groups. The music video, due to be sent to 61,000 schools across America in March, was made by the nonprofit We Are Family Foundation to encourage tolerance and diversity. But Christian activist groups the American Family Association and Focus On The Family say the innocent cartoon characters are being exploited to promote the acceptance of homosexuality. The video is a remake of the 1979 hit song "We Are Family," featuring SpongeBob, Barney, Winnie The Pooh, Bob The Builder, the Rugrats and 100 TV cartoon stars. It was made by a foundation set up by songwriter Nile Rodgers to promote America's healing process after the September 11 attacks. Christian groups, however, have taken exception to the tolerance pledge on the foundation's website, which asks people to respect the sexual identity of others along with their abilities, beliefs, culture and race. Rodgers hits back, "That is so myopic and harsh. You have really got to look hard to find anything in this that is offensive to anyone. The last thing I am going to do is taint these characters."

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2 articles from 2005