The Emmy-award winning Nick News will take a look at the good and bad sides of public discourse with a special airing November 5 at 8:30 pm on Nickelodeon titled Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: Cheap Shots and Low Blows: How Debate Turns To Hate. The special, which will also feature Chris Matthews, Al Franken and Ann Coulter will include children from around the country talking about what they feel is appropriate in public debate and what isn't, what's fair game in political debates and what is nothing more than a personal attack. While grown ups can easily sift through a lot of the nonsense that makes up public debate, we tend to forget the effect it can have on children without some kind of frame of reference. Given the extremes of Franken and Coulter alone, this could be an interesting special.
In the past the kid-centric news program has covered issues such as intelligent design, Hurricane Katrina, and health issues.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-22-2006 @ 12:05PM
Vito said...
You know, I can't see how this could possibly go well. Ann Coulter shoots poison every time I see her, and while I agree more with Al Franken's politics, he DID write a book called Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot. And Chris Matthews isn't exactly Walter Cronkite, Tom Brokaw, or even Tim Russert.
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11-27-2006 @ 8:55PM
LI_Mom said...
It's bad enough adults must be to Ann Coulter's anti-American sentiments. It's appalling that Nick News would help her pass along her sick views on the generation that is our future.
Why do we continue to give her any credibility or a platform from which to spread her hatefulness?
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10-23-2006 @ 12:35AM
erroneous_nick said...
I guess Al Franken and Ann Coulter are going to be on as examples of the "bad" sides of discourse.
On the bright side, Nick News is a wonderful way to (hopefully) get kids interested in current events and the world outside their game consoles.
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10-27-2006 @ 6:29AM
Michael G. Thompson said...
I am looking forward to seeing this. Linda Ellerbee has done a great job with Nick News, perhaps the most truly fair and balanced news show on television period. (OK, The News Hour _may_ be more fair and balanced, but Gwen Ifill doesn't work for Lucky Duck Productions!)
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11-05-2006 @ 9:18PM
Brenda Bullard said...
After reading Linda Ellerbee's opinions in the newspaper I can hardly imagine anyone calling her "fair and balanced"!! I know what she believes and what she stands for and as a Republican I do not want her introducing anything to my 9 year old granddaughter who I have custody of. If I were a Democrat I wouldn't want Rush Limbaugh or Ann Coulter hosting this show either. What are you thinking????
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11-25-2006 @ 6:23PM
Douglas Levin said...
For those who are interested in learning more about Nick News and Linda Ellerbee's motivation and goals for the program, you can listen to an exclusive interview here: http://kidscablelearning.blogspot.com/2006/11/linda-ellerbee-growing-nation-of-rowdy.html
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