News Archive
AUGUST 2004

ARTICLES
Radio - On the right wavelength
Radio projects provide young people with a valuable forum to air their views. John Plummer finds out what is involved in setting up a successful station
The sound of R'n'B fills the studio as Monica Lawal, 18, prepares to present her next show on Issue FM. "I love debating," she says. "This is a great chance to talk about things that interest me and to represent young people."
Issue FM is one of a growing number of UK radio stations run by young people, for young people. Radio is not only a relatively cheap way of communicating to an audience, it is also a great youth work tool. Increasingly, schools and youth services are recognising that the airwaves present teenagers with a fun way to learn and express themselves.
FULL ARTICLE

TRAINING
Thai NGOs Receive Media Communications Training
The Internews Mekong project trained 10 representatives from Thai NGOs on methods of communicating their message to the media in advance of July's 15th International AIDS Conference. The NGOs represent youth, high-risk and marginalized groups, including people living with HIV/AIDS, intravenous drug users, migrant and mobile populations, and other vulnerable groups from across the Mekong region.
MORE DETAILS AND CONTACTS

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
OneMinutesJr workshop in Reykjavik, Iceland

UNICEF, the European Cultural Foundation (ECF) and the OneMinutes Foundation will organize a OneMinutesJr workshop for young people aged 12-20 from the Nordic countries.
MORE INFO
APPLICATION FORM

RESEARCH
Ofcom research sets food advertising to children in context
Ofcom has today published the findings of research into the role of television advertising in the context of the wider public debate about childhood obesity.
The research was undertaken in response to a request in December 2003 from the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport that Ofcom look at the rules relevant to food advertising directed at children
MORE INFO
FULL RESEARCH PAPER (1.21 MB in pdf-format)

EXHIBITIONS / PROJECTS
"Lives in Transition: Expressions of Refugee Youth" on display at the United Nations General Assembly Building July 28 - September 30, 2004
Exhibition of photographs and testimonials by Iraqi, Afghani, Sudanese, Somalian, Colombian and Burmese refugeeS will start July 28 to September 30th in the United Nations Building in New York. The intimate exhibition created by National Geographic provides us with intimate portraits of families and community torn by civil wars, ethnic conflicts and poverty.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, "Out of an estimated 20 million refugees, displaced persons and other vulnerable groups around the world today, 50 per cent are children." The AjA Project, a San Diego-based non-profit organization dedicated to providing innovative media arts and photography-based educational programs for refugee youth, will be featuring its students' artwork
MORE INFO

RESEARCH
Too Much TV in Childhood Affects Adult Health: Otago Study
Watching too much television as a child has long-lasting effects on adult health, according to a world-first University of Otago study about to be published in the leading international medical journal Lancet.
The Study has followed a group of around 1000 children born in Dunedin in 1972-73. Every two years between the ages of 5 and 15, they were asked how much television they watched. The researchers found that those who watched the most television had the most health problems as young adults.
MORE INFO

NEWS
Young People join Carol Bellamy to tell British Prime Minister about HIV/AIDS

LONDON, 20 July 2004 - Seven young people from the developing world met the British Prime Minister Tony Blair today and told him about their experience of living with HIV/AIDS.
The visit to London was organised by the UNICEF UK National Committee after a personal request from Mr Blair who has pledged 150 million pounds sterling to help children who have been orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS.
UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy accompanied the young people to 10 Downing Street, the British Prime Minister’s official residence, and praised their role in helping raise awareness about HIV/AIDS.
FULL ARTICLE

RESOURCES
CRC - Thai version added to MAGIC resources
The Khmer version of the Convention on the Rights of the Child was added to the MAGIC RESOURCES. You can browse the different languages (more than 30 as of July 19, 2004) or go straight to the Thai version.

AWARDS
56th Annual Primetime Emmy Nominees
Click here to see the nominees in the category "Outstanding Childrens Program"

RESOURCES
CRC - Khmer version added to MAGIC resources
The Khmer version of the Convention on the Rights of the Child was added to the MAGIC RESOURCES. You can browse the different languages (more than 30 as of July 19, 2004) or go straight to the Khmer version.

NEWS
Star in education partnership to combat Aids in India
The Rupert Murdoch owned Star Group in association with The Gere Foundation India Trust, Avahan-India Aids Initiative, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Kaiser Family Foundation have launched the Heroes Project. This is a three-year campaign to combat HIV/Aids in India.
Star India/Star Care, which is a division of the Star Group has made a commitment worth $14 million over three years. The funds will be used towards cross platform media placement of HIV/AIDS public service messages (TV and radio), TV and radio entertainment programming and news coverage.
The first television message, featuring Indian cricket star Rahul Dravid, will debut this month. In addition Star will institute its own HIV/Aids employee education curriculum.
FULL ARTICLE

PROJECTS
PCTV team to look at Juvenile Justice issues
Phillips Community Television (PCTV) announces that the youth media team called Force Five Productions will be making two videos as part of the summer 2004 youth worker program looking at "juvenile justice" issues in the community of Minneapolis.
The Force Five Productions team is Ishaq Abbas (14), Fardosa Hassan (14), Hamdi Hassen (15), Zelealem Mekuria (14), Josslynn Parker (15). These five youth producers are working at PCTV as part of the summer youth employment program through the city of Minneapolis. For more info, contact PCTV via e-mail.

ARTICLES
OneMinutesJr workshop report

Read a young producers report on the recent OneMinutesJr workshop in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Click the banner to get to TEENAGER, a Kazakh youth magazine, for the Russian language article.

NEWS
TV soaps told curb violence to protect kids
Television bosses have been told to ensure young viewers have greater protection from scenes of sex and violence. The order from the watchdog Ofcom reflects concerns that broadcasters are exploiting guidelines by showing programmes with adult themes before the 9pm watershed.
FULL ARTICLE

TRAINING
“Children read the news and we can also make our own newspapers!” - Young people at UNICEF workshop affirm their aspirations and learn to become journalists
Antananarivo, Madagascar, July 14th: In a first for media and children in Madagascar, a group of 40 adolescents aged 12-16 gathered together in the nation’s capital to learn about how to create their own newspaper.
These young journalists, many of whom had expressed an interest to UNICEF in becoming young reporters, came from four regions of the country -- Mahajanga, Fianarantsoa, Toamasina and Antanananarivo. They spent two days together – in groups of 10 -- learning from newspaper “people” about how to put a newspaper together.
FULL ARTICLE

PROJECTS
Making movies: Junior reporters of Viet Nam are trained in basic video production

By Michael Oko, intern UNICEF Viet Nam, June - August 2004
Shortly after touching down at Noi Bai, the international airport in northern Vietnam, on a steamy hot Sunday evening, I located the UNICEF car, and we quickly made our way onto the highway toward Hanoi. The rush of traffic, honking horns, and crush of motorbikes all declared my arrival in this highly energized city. The decibel level alone made it clear that I was not in America, my home country, anymore.
A little more than twelve hours later, I found myself at the khach san La Thanh—a large, dusty yellow, slightly dilapidated, former hotel that now serves as a conference center—for the opening ceremony of UNICEF's first ever Junior Reporters' Club course in Basic Video Production. There were three groups of teenagers selected for this two-week introductory programme on making videos. They would be taught everything from how to create a story, to shooting with digital video cameras, to editing the footage into a final product. At the end, the students would have three completed films, each approximately five minutes in length. Through the latest video technology, the young people would have an outlet to share their stories. The project would also provide the kids with video skills that they could pass along to their peers.
I was on hand to assist Paul Cantwell, a television editor from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) who was heading up the training programme. At home, I am a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC. With a background in documentary and commercial film production, I would do my best to overcome the language barriers to offer my professional experience to the training.
FULL ARTICLE

NEWS
Kami shines at international AIDS conference

BANGKOK, 13 July 2004 - UNICEF's "Champion for Children" Kami shared the spotlight with UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy on Tuesday at the International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand.
The HIV-positive Muppet from Takalane Sesame was helping Ms. Bellamy launch a major new report on global orphan estimates at a news conference. Speaking on behalf of millions of children orphaned by AIDS, the furry yellow Muppet from South Africa cheered and charmed an otherwise sombre and weary group of journalists. "Ms. Bellamy, I'm so happy to be here in Bangkok," Kami told the UNICEF Executive Director in a brief dialogue to open the news conference.
FULL ARTICLE

RESOURCES
Youth Press in the Republic of Moldova / 2003-2004 Guide online

The publication, written by the Young Journalist Center (CTJ) in Chisinau with support from UNICEF in Moldova can be accessed through the CTJ website or through the MAGIC RESOURCES. It comes as an 811 KB pdf-file.

NEWS
Algerian youth tabloid launched
A cheeky tabloid for romance-thirsty young Algerians hit news stands this weekend, another sign life is returning to normal for a Muslim country isolated by more than a decade of a bloody holy war. The twice-monthly publication breaks with tradition by explicitly writing about sex, pre-marital relationships and other social issues which are publicly taboo in Algeria.

PRESS CONFERENCE
(July 8, 2004) OneMinutesJr workshop on HIV/AIDS teams up with International AIDS Awareness Expedition 2004

The participants of the Bishkek OneMinutesJr workshop showed the first results of their workshop today in a joint press conference with a German team of mountaineers on their way to Peak Pobeda (7438 m) in Kyrgyzstan.
While the OneMinutesJr workshop brings together 21 young people from the Caucasus and Central Asia to produce OneMinutesJr on HIV/AIDS and narcotics, the mountaneers will raise a symbolic Red Ribbon on the highest mountain in Kyrgyzstan to raise awareness for AIDS. They have covered more than 10,000 km already by car from Germany to Kyrgyzstan and will now try to cover the last 7 km by foot, up to the summit of Peak Pobeda.
MORE ABOUT THE AIDS AWARENESS EXPEDITION 2004

ADDITIONAL ARTICLE on HIV/AIDS in Central Asia

NEWS
Bill Studies Effects of Media on Kids
The US federal government is getting involved in studying what effects various forms of media have on children's health, cognitive development and skills. About $90 million is being spent for researchers to figure out whether kids' favorite TV shows, movies and video games are actually bad for their health.
FULL ARTICLE

TRAINING/WORKSHOPS
OneMinutesJr workshop on HIV/AIDS in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

21 teenagers from 8 countries in the South Caucasus and Central Asia are meeting in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek to produce a series of short films on HIV/AIDS and narcotics.
The young filmmakers started the workshop which is organized by UNICEF, the European Cultural Foundation and the OneMinutes Foundation on July 5 with script-writing, film-screenings and a presentation on the HIV/AIDS situation in Central Asia.
On the second day, they already started filming and editing and will finish around 20 OneMinutes by the end of the week. The films will then be available online at www.theoneminutesjr.org.
MORE PICTURES
WATCH ONE OF THE ONEMINUTESJR ON HIV/AIDS

NEWS
Effects of media on mind discussed in Pakistan
Exposure of children to scenes of violence, natural disasters, catastrophic events and crime reports on television leads to stress, anxiety and fear among children leaving far reaching impacts on their personality.
These views were expressed at a seminar on "Mind and media", organized by the Endeavour-A Youth Forum at the Aga Khan University Auditorium. The speakers said that research had shown that children and adolescent were prone to imitate what they saw on media. Effects could be evident immediately or surface a year later, they added.
Teachers' Development Centre Director Prof Abbas Hussain said that children through media got aware about certain facts of life mysteries, contradictions, tragedies and violence, which were not considered suitable for them to know.
FULL ARTICLE

REQUEST FOR COOPERATION
Media Literacy Study 2004
Jan Vincens Steen from WAN in Oslo and Jennifer O`Reilly from Belfast are currently doing a European Media Literacy study for WAN, the World Association of Newspapers. This request for collaboration on the Media Literacy 2004 study goes out to all teachers and newspaper representatives in Europe.
"We would like YOU as a representative of your school or newspaper to contact us. We want contact with both newspaper representatives and teachers in ordinary schools. Please get in touch with jvs@mediebedriftene.no, and we will then send some "open" questions to be answered. Thank you for your help!"
An example of the work WAN has been doing in this field is the (global) study "Children in newspapers".
Contact:
Jan Vincens Steen
Leder for Avis i Skolen - Mediebedriftene
Tollbugaten 27 / 0157 Oslo / Norway
Tel: +47 22861227 or +4792053152
Fax: +4722422611

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
OneMinutesJr workshop in Romania - September 2004

Within the framework of the OneMinutesJr network, UNICEF, the European Cultural Foundation and the Sandberg Institute will organize a workshop for Roma youngsters between 14-16 years of age. The workshop will take place in Targu Mures, Romania, from September 2-7. Roma boys and girls from Slovakia, Serbia & Montenegro, Romania, Hungary, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Moldova, Ukraine and Bulgaria are invited to APPLY for the workshop.
MORE INFO

NEWS
Latest Voices of Youth newsletter online - Young people and HIV and AIDS - "An ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure"

On 11 July 2004, at the XV International AIDS Conference, young people will join policy and decision makers as they struggle with how to ensure access to HIV and AIDS information, skills, services and care for all. This 10th issue of “What Young People are Saying” underscores young people’s dedication to the fight against HIV and AIDS and their unique capacity to pinpoint the critical issues, concrete solutions and recommendations for what we all can do – together.
NEWSLETTER in pdf

PUBLICATIONS
Aspects of Human Development Journalism now part of University curriculum in Moldova
A university course of lectures on covering aspects of human development was recently published in Chisinau. The book, which appeared in 500 copies in Romanian and in Russian, is a joint initiative of the journalism department of Moldova State University and the Independent Journalism Center carried out under the auspices of UNICEF.
Major highlights include the fundamentals of reporting about social development, poverty, children's rights, human trafficking, HIV/AIDS and other issues. Since the fall semester of 2003, "Journalism for human development" is part of the university journalism curriculum.

PROJECTS
"Children under 16 Allowed!" competition held by Internews Russia
This summer, Internews and the Tochka Upory Foundation are holding a competition for children's animated films about human rights called "Children under 16 Allowed!"
The competition will fund the production of short animated films based on short novellas in Andrei Usachev's book "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Retold for Children and Adults," each of which illustrates provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The children's animation studios that are selected will participate in a pre-production workshop in Moscow and the finished films will be included in a multimedia encyclopedia of human rights that will be distributed to educational institutions throughout Russia. The competition is being carried out as part of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education, a ten-year program (1995-2004) encouraging member states to eradicate illiteracy and to direct education towards the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
For more info, please contact Irina Emshanova, Director, "Kultura" Project for Internews Russia.

REPORTS
Watching TV 'blocks sleep hormone in children'
Exposure to television can influence melatonin levels in children and possibly contribute to the premature onset of puberty, according to a study by scientists from the University of Florence.
MORE

ARTICLES
Training School Subject Of Film - Former Resident, 16, Documents Conditions At Juvenile Facility
With a film crew in tow, a former resident of Connecticut's troubled Juvenile Training School has returned to document the problems that have plagued the Middletown facility.
The school, which has been the focus of investigations into allegations of youth beatings and of corruption in the Rowland administration, is now the subject of a brief film that provides commentary on juvenile justice.
Former resident Travis Ruffin, 16, returned in May with a camera crew of other teenagers to film a 25-minute documentary, The New York Times reported Saturday.
The project, organized and paid for by Youth Rights Media, a nonprofit group established by three Yale University graduates in 2000, produced the film, "CJT$: At What Cost?"

REPORTS
Young reporters go to jail in Moldova

Five high-school journalists from the Youth Media Center in Chisinau went for a visit to their fellow detainees from the Reformatory Colony in Lipcani. It was the first time when teenagers that had nothing to do with the justice system committed no crime entered a Jail for minors.
The Reformatory Colony from Lipcani town is the only prison in the Republic of Moldova for boys between 14 and 18 years old that are convicted for law obstruction. At present, there are 185 young men between 14 and 21 years of age imprisoned here. They got here after committing theft, robbery, rape, and even murder. Depending on the gravity of their crime, each and every one of the boys has to remain in prison for a period that can vary from one to 10 years.
Life at the Colony is not easy, the boys say, but it is much better than at the Pre-trial Detention Facility. "Here we have got fresh air, we can see the sun and play football from time to time." A lot of the boys come from vulnerable, extremely poor families. They have been expelled from their schools, society, and even from their own families. Maxim is 17 years old and he comes from Chisinau. He wasn't even 10 when he became an orphan. His father left their family when Maxim was just a little boy. Then his mother died of tuberculosis. He lived alone and, from time to time, visited one of his aunts. Because Maxim didn't have money for food, he used to steal different things and then sell them. Only when he got bored of the street life he went to school. First time he was released on bail: "No one told me that for any small offence I could get back in court and that, the second time, my penalty would be even more severe", says Maxim. On the contrary, a lot of people told him he couldn't be imprisoned because he's a child. Maxim has been in the Reeducation Center of Lipcani for 2 years now. In another 2 years he will be free, but no one is waiting for him out. He says he will leave for Russia to look for his father, watch him in the eyes and ask for some help. Maxim dreams of having children and being able of providing them a decent life...
In the Republic of Moldova there is no Specialized Juvenile Justice System that would correspond to the special needs of the children suspected or accused of obstructing the law. Their cases are examined and compared with grown-up cases, and the procedure can last for months, or even years. As a result, even if they are guilty of something, their child rights are not being complied with. The reform of the juvenile justice system is still at the beginning.
UNICEF Moldova and the Government of the Republic of Moldova, in cooperation with non-governmental organizations, have launched this year the project "Reforming the Juvenile Justice System in the Republic of Moldova". After this visit to the colony in Lipcani, the young journalists from the Youth Media Center, together with UNICEF Moldova, decided to initiate
activities for raising awareness of the public on juvenile justice issues. Also, they will inform their fellow detainees about their rights and obligations, about their health risks, life and freedom, and other things they should know about. In this way the boys would be more ready for returning into the society that is waiting for them, for the time they will be free and they will have to take the right decisions on their own.
VIEW THE PICTURE STORY BY THE YOUNG JOURNALISTS (pdf)

ARTICLES
Media Messages on Health & HIV/Aids Target African Youth
Messages created by and for young people have become a centerpiece of efforts to educate teens about health risks. Organizers of those campaigns say they are potent tools for protecting teens from HIV and other risks of sexual activity.
"Aids is replacing football as the most talked about subject," a contestant in a competition called "Scenarios from Africa" told researchers. "Before, we were not interested. Now we are."
FULL ARTICLE

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