Stephanie
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By TSC Staff
9/7/2006 4:58 PM EDT
Scholastic (SCHL - commentary - Cramer's Take) pulled its online materials posted in support of ABC's "Path to 9/1l," the terrorist-attack docudrama criticized by former President Bill Clinton.
New York-based Scholastic said it will replace the yanked material with a new classroom discussion guide focusing "more specifically on media literacy, critical thinking, and historical background." Congressional Democrats have urged Disney's (DIS - commentary - Cramer's Take) ABC to cancel the miniseries, calling it "a work of fiction."
ABC issued a statement saying the production was still being edited and that criticism of the film's specifics were thus "premature and irresponsible," Reuters reported.
Chronicling events leading to the Sept. 11 attacks, the movie suggests the Clinton administration was too distracted by the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal to deal properly with the gathering threat posed by Islamic militants, Reuters reported.
"After a thorough review of the original guide that we offered online to about 25,000 high school teachers, we determined that the materials did not meet our high standards for dealing with controversial issues," Scholastic CEO Dick Robinson said.
Scholastic said it still believes the program "can provide a springboard to discussion about the issues leading up to 9/11, terrorism and the Middle East."
More...
Educational media giant Scholastic, Inc. announced it's dropping its original classroom companion guides to a controversial new docudrama about the events preceding the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks -- and replacing them with materials stressing critical thinking and media literacy.
After a thorough review of the original guide that we offered online to about 25,000 high school teachers, we determined that the materials did not meet our high standards for dealing with controversial issues, said Dick Robinson, Chairman, President and CEO of Scholastic, in a press release.
The original materials had been criticized for oversimplifications and failures to address flaws in post-9/11 policies, including the invasion of Iraq.
The new materials, Scholastic said, will stress three issues: 1. Media Literacy - what is a docudrama; how does it differ from a documentary; what are the differences between factual reporting and a dramatization?
2. Background to 9/11 - what are some of the causes of unrest in the Middle East and other parts of the world that give rise to attacks on the U.S. and other countries?
3. Geography and Culture -- there is a long history of conflict in the Middle East. How well do students understand each of the countries involved and what influences their behavior?
"[D]eveloping critical thinking and media literacy skills is crucial for students," the release quoted Scholastic CEO Robinson as saying. "The Path to 9/11 provides a very teachable moment for developing these skills at the high school level."
:tdown2:
http://www.thestreet.com/_googlen/n...797.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA
ROBINSON, RICHARD
NEW YORK,NY 10012
SCHOLASTIC INC
10/2/2001
$5,000
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Cmte
ROBINSON, RICHARD
NEW YORK,NY 10012
SCHOLASTIC INC
8/3/2004
$1,000
Clinton, Hillary Rodham
9/7/2006 4:58 PM EDT
Scholastic (SCHL - commentary - Cramer's Take) pulled its online materials posted in support of ABC's "Path to 9/1l," the terrorist-attack docudrama criticized by former President Bill Clinton.
New York-based Scholastic said it will replace the yanked material with a new classroom discussion guide focusing "more specifically on media literacy, critical thinking, and historical background." Congressional Democrats have urged Disney's (DIS - commentary - Cramer's Take) ABC to cancel the miniseries, calling it "a work of fiction."
ABC issued a statement saying the production was still being edited and that criticism of the film's specifics were thus "premature and irresponsible," Reuters reported.
Chronicling events leading to the Sept. 11 attacks, the movie suggests the Clinton administration was too distracted by the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal to deal properly with the gathering threat posed by Islamic militants, Reuters reported.
"After a thorough review of the original guide that we offered online to about 25,000 high school teachers, we determined that the materials did not meet our high standards for dealing with controversial issues," Scholastic CEO Dick Robinson said.
Scholastic said it still believes the program "can provide a springboard to discussion about the issues leading up to 9/11, terrorism and the Middle East."
More...
Educational media giant Scholastic, Inc. announced it's dropping its original classroom companion guides to a controversial new docudrama about the events preceding the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks -- and replacing them with materials stressing critical thinking and media literacy.
After a thorough review of the original guide that we offered online to about 25,000 high school teachers, we determined that the materials did not meet our high standards for dealing with controversial issues, said Dick Robinson, Chairman, President and CEO of Scholastic, in a press release.
The original materials had been criticized for oversimplifications and failures to address flaws in post-9/11 policies, including the invasion of Iraq.
The new materials, Scholastic said, will stress three issues: 1. Media Literacy - what is a docudrama; how does it differ from a documentary; what are the differences between factual reporting and a dramatization?
2. Background to 9/11 - what are some of the causes of unrest in the Middle East and other parts of the world that give rise to attacks on the U.S. and other countries?
3. Geography and Culture -- there is a long history of conflict in the Middle East. How well do students understand each of the countries involved and what influences their behavior?
"[D]eveloping critical thinking and media literacy skills is crucial for students," the release quoted Scholastic CEO Robinson as saying. "The Path to 9/11 provides a very teachable moment for developing these skills at the high school level."
:tdown2:
http://www.thestreet.com/_googlen/n...797.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA
ROBINSON, RICHARD
NEW YORK,NY 10012
SCHOLASTIC INC
10/2/2001
$5,000
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Cmte
ROBINSON, RICHARD
NEW YORK,NY 10012
SCHOLASTIC INC
8/3/2004
$1,000
Clinton, Hillary Rodham
