The Walt Disney Co.'s ABC Cable Networks Group has fleshed out the details of
"Learning Together," the public-affairs initiative originally announced last
fall.
Four channels -- ABC Family, Disney Channel, SoapNet and Toon Disney -- will
participate in the yearlong project, which is designed to increase children's
learning habits through family-member involvement.
ABC Family, SoapNet and Toon Disney will handle one project direction, while
Disney Channel will handle two -- one for the channel as a whole, the other
supported by its "Playhouse Disney" preschool-program daypart. Each direction
will last about three months.
ABC Cable Network officials released the details Monday morning during the
Cable Television Public Affairs Association's Forum 2003 conference in
Washington, D.C.
SoapNet will launch the campaign in April with "Talk It Over Soaps," a set of
parent/teen-ager forums that will incorporate clips from the channel's replays
of ABC daytime dramas dealing with drug/alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy and sex
education.
During the summer, Toon Disney and Playhouse Disney will set up reading and
storytelling events in libraries around the country, with book donations at some
stops.
Disney Channel's "Imagineer That!" drive gets in gear this fall, where
schools will welcome members of Disney's Imagineer squad for creativity
workshops.
"One-on-One," ABC Family's mentoring-program contribution, will start next
January in partnership with national nonprofit group Girls Inc.
Some cities around the country will hold events from all four services.
Channel affiliates will get the option of incorporating specific campaigns into
their own outreach programs covering the same ground.
All events will be supported through on-air promotion and Web-site
announcements.
Whatever the approach, Learning Together will provide ABC Cable affiliates
"with additional resources to make a positive impact in their local
communities," ABC Cable senior vice president of affiliate sales and marketing
Ben Pyne said in a prepared statement.
