MAGIC - Children & Media research Resources

Links in this section may take you to new, non-UNICEF websites. Therefore, the opinions and views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies.

Beyond ALL tolerance - Child pornography on the Internet (Save the Children, 2004)
The Internet has been of boundless benefit to information exchange and development, broadening the footprint of democracy and shrinking the world to where we can converse with virtually anyone who is connected. The Internet’s trademark is internationalism.
Ironically but unsurprisingly, this tool of internationalism has hugely benefited the criminal. And chiefly the pornographic criminal. Whether the Internet has merely exposed the extent of child pornography crime or whether it has caused it to explode, is still unsure.
What is extremely relevant is the need for an international effort to stem the tide – but chiefly, to save or help the children affected today, in the past or in the future.
in pdf - 358 KB (2004)

"Bringing Hurricane Katrina into the Classroom: Media Literacy Lessons and Activities" - A Starting Place for Analyzing Media Coverage of Hurricane Katrina
The Alliance for a Media Literate America (AMLA) has created a downloadable media literacy lesson and activity guide that offers a starting place for educators who want to help students analyze, understand, and cope with Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. “Bringing Hurricane Katrina Into the Classroom: Media
Literacy Lessons and Activities” includes lessons such as Editorial Decision-Making, Looking at Language, and Taking Action, plus dozens of links to alternative news sources, commentary, and media comparisons.
This free, downloadable guide is available on the AMLA website. An expanded and interactive version, including a bulletin board for sharing thoughts and reactions, will be posted on September
15th, when the new AMLA website launches.

Childhood Obesity - Food Advertising in Context
Children's food choices, parents' understanding and influence, and the role of food promotion
Ofcom (the Office of Communications) is the new regulator for the UK communications industries, with responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications and wireless communications services. It was established on 29th December 2003, and replaces the Independent Television Commission, the Radio Authority, the Broadcasting Standards Commission, Oftel and the Radio Communications Agency.
In view of increasing concerns about levels of obesity amongst British children and suggestions that changes in diet are likely be a contributory cause, the Secretary for Culture, Media and Sport, Tessa Jowell, asked Ofcom at the end of 2003 to consider - targeted and proportionate - proposals for strengthening the existing code on TV advertising in respect of food and drink to children.
in pdf - 1.21 MB (2004)

Children, Mobile Phones and the Internet
FULL REPORT (pdf - 422 KB)
FULL REPORT in Japanese

Children, Youth and Media Around the World - An Overview of Trends & Issues (2004) by InterMedia for UNICEF
This 16-page research paper, presented at the April 2004 4th World Summit on Media for Children and Adolescents in Rio de Janeiro, provides an overview of trends and issues concerning young people and the media. It is based on a review of existing print and electronic sources, interviews with child media experts from different regions worldwide, and analysis InterMedia's surveys.
FULL REPORT with pictures (pdf - 2.29 MB)
FULL REPORT text-only (pdf - 276 KB)

EIAA Media Consumption Study
TV & Radio lose out to Internet among Youth audience - EIAA research reveals increasing and more sophisticated usage of the Internet among 15-24 year olds
London, 21st June 2005 – 15-24 year olds across Europe are spending less time watching TV and listening to the radio as a result of using the Internet, according to research from the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA), the pan-European trade organisation for sellers of interactive media. Almost half of 15-24 year olds (46%) are watching less TV, preferring instead to browse the web while 22% are listening to less radio. A third of those questioned are even reading less, choosing to consume information over the Internet.
in pdf - 808 KB (2005)

Get With IT!

A parents' guide to new media: understanding and sharing the new media technologies with your children
Read the booklet here

Les moyens de communication - Enquete d'audience
Children: The new media consumer in Madagascar
The study, launched in November 2004 by the Minister of Communication and the National Statistics Institute, reveals that 76% of all households in the country listen to the radio; 32 percent watch TV and 27 percent read newspapers. The study also pointed to the fact that village meetings remain the first source of information for most people and that children, surprise, surprise, listen to the radio as well!
The study, technically and financially supported by UNICEF, was conducted in 13 sites in the country, amongst some 10,000 households.
FULL REPORT IN FRENCH (pdf - 618 KB)

'MediaRelate: Understanding Media Images of Love, Sex and Relationships'

Media Relate is a practical media and sex education project that has resulted in the publication of a set of teaching materials, including a booklet, a DVD and a website. The project emerges from our earlier research in this field, which demonstrated young people's enthusiasm for learning about personal and sexual issues from the media rather than from parents or school. (See the report, 'Children, Media and Personal Relationships' (www.mediarelate.org), and book, 'Young People, Sex and the Media: the facts of life?', by David Buckingham and Sara Bragg (2004, Palgrave Macmillan)).
CHECK OUT THE RESOURCES ON THE MEDIARELATE WEBSITE

Mit Medien leben lernen - Tipps für Eltern zur Medienerziehung jetzt auch in Türkisch und Russisch
Die von der GMK erstellte Broschüre "Mit Medien leben lernen" - möchte Familien mit Vorschulkindern in der Medienerziehung unterstützen. Die neu erschienenen Russischen und Türkischen Versionen enthalten zudem einen Extrateil "Sprachkenntnisse mit Medien verbessern", der Tipps zu einer sinnvollen Nutzung von Medien zur Unterstützung des Spracherwerbs enthält (als Ergänzung zur Sprachförderung im Kindergarten, in Förderkursen etc.).
FREE DOWNLOAD IN GERMAN
FREE DOWNLOAD IN RUSSIAN
FREE DOWNLOAD IN TURKISH

Navigating the Children's Media Landscape
This study - released on April 2, 2004 - offers tips on dodging the pitfalls of children's media use.
in pdf - 563 KB (2004) / produced by Cable in the Classroom

Print Media Coverage on Children Issues in Nepal 2003
in pdf - 251 KB (2003)

Print Media Coverage on Children Issues in Nepal 2002
in pdf - 245 KB (2002)

Report on Internet Study in Kenya: TeenWeb Nairobi
in pdf - 240 KB (2004) / produced by IPAS

Social Functions of Bulgarian Public Service Television on Child Audience
by Katia Hristova (Bulgaria). Dissertation (2005) - in Bulgarian

UK Children Go Online: Surveying the experiences of young people and their parents
in pdf - 1.64 MB (2004) / produced by Sonia Livingstone & Magdalena Bober

Violence Against Children in Cyberspace
(ECPAT International)
Weak laws and fragmented industry action is exposing children around the world to increasingly serious violence through the Internet and other cyber technologies, according to a new report released today.
The report, Violence Against Children in Cyberspace, says violence against children through new technologies is pervasive, causes deep and lasting physical and psychological damage to the child victims, and is outstripping the resources of law enforcement agencies.
Violence Against Children in Cyberspace was written by ECPAT International with leading experts around the world as a contribution to the UN Study on Violence Against Children. The report draws together the latest knowledge on cyber violence against children and outlines an agenda for action, including greater industry action and stronger national legislations harmonised to international standards.
FULL REPORT IN ENGLISH (pdf - 1.58 MB)
FULL REPORT IN SPANISH (pdf - 1.25 MB)
FULL REPORT IN FRENCH (pdf - 1.3 MB)

What children and young people are saying about poverty in Tanzania
in pdf - 642 KB (Juny 2004) / produced by TMC

Young People and Media in Central & Eastern Europe, CIS and the Baltics by InterMedia for UNICEF
in pdf - 244 KB (2000)

Young People In The Media - A Review of Young People's Participation in the Media in UNICEF Projects for the East Asia and Pacific Region
in pdf - 319 KB (2004)