Gates partners with MTV, other Viacom networks to air education message where kids will see it

Gates brings education message to MTV, Nickelodeon

LOS ANGELES — Students who might be too glued to their televisions to keep up with homework are going to find channels like MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon prodding them to get on task and graduate.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is partnering with Viacom Inc.’s television networks, education leaders and celebrities to launch an awareness campaign to reduce the number of dropouts.

“All too often, the value and benefit of education are not real enough to kids,” said Tony Miller, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education.

The “Get Schooled” initiative focuses on low graduation rates in college and high school. A student drops out of an American high school every 26 seconds, according to the Seattle-based Gates Foundation.

At that rate, not enough American children are graduating high school and college to stay competitive in the global marketplace, said Viacom President and CEO Philippe Dauman.

“We don’t know much about substance, we’re about fluff at Viacom,” Dauman said with a laugh. The Viacom chief, whose networks also include VH1, CMT, Spike TV, TV Land and Logo, said he told Gates a year ago, “We know kids, we know how to reach them; if you provide the substance we can be the megaphone.”

To launch the five-year campaign, the documentary “Get Schooled” was set to premiere on all of Viacom’s networks simultaneously at 8 p.m. EDT Tuesday night.

The documentary features pop singer Kelly Clarkson, basketball star LeBron James and President Barack Obama, but the program’s real focus is on people behind the scenes, like a presidential speechwriter, and how education brought them success.

Dauman said the “Get Schooled” initiative would find its way into plot lines and programs, like BET’s documentary “Bring Your ‘A’ Game,” which featured prominent black men who have achieved success.

But “we’re not going to go to all PBS-type programming,” Dauman said. “In order to reach kids you have to entertain them.”

Activism is not new for Viacom and its networks. MTV has raised AIDS awareness, promoted participation in elections and led other education initiatives.

The Gates Foundation, started by Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates and his wife, has invested more than $2 billion in educational programs since 2000.

At a Los Angeles event to launch the “Get Schooled” campaign, New York City schools chief Joel Klein said he was hopeful the approach would succeed because “trying to get traction with the millions and millions of kids in school is something that’s been a challenge.”

“When you bring the resources and the vision that the Gates family and foundation has, coupled with the distribution assets that Viacom has — the role models, the glitz they can produce — it feels like a good mix of stuff that will capture kids,” Klein said.

The event coincided with a speech Obama made in Arlington, Va., on Tuesday that was broadcast to schools across the nation. In the address, Obama urged students to hit the books, saying that success is hard-won and every student has something they are good at.