The Court TV cable-television network has announced plans for life after O.J.
The cable channel, known for its coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial and other headline-grabbing court proceedings, will televise Saturday-morning educational programs to explain the justice system to 8- to 15-year-old viewers.
The three-hour block, to be called “Court TV Kids,” will debut in March and could eventually become a separate channel for children, according to Steven Brill, the network’s founder. The three shows are “Justice Factory,” a magazine-style show that will explore legal issues for adolescents, such as school-locker searches; “Fair or Foul?,” which will repackage Court TV’s trial coverage and analyze it from the perspective of young viewers; and “Your Turn,” a talk show with a panel and studio audience of children.
The Public Broadcasting Service dives into the sex-education debate next week with a one-hour documentary titled “Sex, Teens, and Public Schools.”
Jane Pauley of NBC will host the show, which is on the national PBS schedule for Oct. 23 at 10 p.m. Eastern time. The show focuses on several communities where different approaches to sex education have sparked fierce debate.
From Vista, Calif., the program looks at the district’s switch from the Values and Choices curriculum, which included information about contraception, to the abstinence-based Sex Respect curriculum. The Vista district made the switch after a conservative majority took control of the school board.
The show also visits a special school for pregnant teens in Hemet, Calif., and follows a teenage couple in San Diego as they try to obtain confidential family-planning services.
C-span, the cable-television public-affairs channel, is adding a second bus to its fleet.
The popular C-span school bus, a mobile television-production unit and demonstration center, visits schools and other sites to promote C-span programs and distribute teaching materials. The original bus was launched two years ago and is now on its third tour of the country.
The new 45-foot bus will take to the highways Jan. 1. The expanded fleet will allow C-span to visit twice as many communities.
Both buses will have a “Campaign ‘96" theme, with educational materials about the presidential election. Destinations include San Diego and Chicago, the sites of the Republican and Democratic national conventions, respectively.
--Mark Walsh
