Why Newsweek is Bad for Kids

"Did you see the cover story of Newsweek magazine last week? The cover story is titled, 'Why TV is Good for Kids.' Why, against all common sense, is Newsweek going to try and convince us that television is good for kids?" write Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman, co-authors of Corporate Predators: The Hunt for MegaProfits and the Attack on Democracy. "Well, one reason might be: Newsweek is owned by the Washington Post Company, which owns a sprawling cable company and six broadcast stations around the country. Of course, nowhere in the article does Newsweek tell us this. And how does Newsweek try and convince us that TV is good for kids? They trot out an expert, Daniel Anderson, a professor of psychology a the University of Massachusetts, who claims that TV is good for kids. But what Newsweek doesn't tell us is Anderson is a paid consultant to a variety of television networks and advertising interests. His clients include: NBC, CBS, Universal Pictures, Sony, General Mills, the Leo Burnett ad agency, Nickelodeon and the National Association of Broadcasters."