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Brazil, Canada and Namibia nominated for television award

Monday, 3 November 1997: UNICEF and the International Council of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) have nominated TV Cultura of Brazil, YTV Inc. of Canada and the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation for outstanding participation in the 1996 International Children's Day of Broadcasting. They were selected from 11 semi-finalists.

The winner will be announced at the 25th International Emmy Awards Gala in New York City on Monday, 24 November 1997, and will be presented the award by UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Sir Peter Ustinov and UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Karin Sham Poo.

The International Children's Day of Broadcasting is celebrated every year on the second Sunday of December. It gives children a chance to express themselves using a medium normally controlled by adults. Some 2,000 broadcasters from 170 countries now "tune in to kids" on this day and some mark it by producing special programmes. The three nominees were selected for the following programme presentations:

• TV Cultura in Brazil produced 11 programmes for the Day. They included 'I Was Never a Child', about malnutrition and hunger, 'The Presence of the Look', about the relationship between children and television and 'Once there was a Place, Brazil', a compilation of interviews with children from all over Brazil. TV Cultura dedicated over 12 hours of air time to the Day and created a special web site where kids from all over the world could exchange their views.
• On YTV in Canada, from 5:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. kids "ruled," hosting an entire day of programming produced especially for the International Children's Day of Broadcasting. Its specials included 'YTV News' and 'The Hit List'. A special component to the YTV web site was also created for the Day.
• More than 250 children helped the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) produce a live, nine-hour International Children's Day of Broadcasting special. NBC coordinated a live satellite link-up with the South African Broadcasting Corporation to let kids exchange views across Africa. South African President Nelson Mandela opened the live link-up. Namibian President Dr. Sam Nujoma was interviewed by youth reporters. Internet chat groups were facilitated by multilingual children so messages could be exchanged around the world.

"We are consistently amazed at the quality of entries we receive for this competition; the amount of time, planning and resources that go into these productions are incredible," notes UNICEF Chief of Broadcast and Electronic Communication William Hetzer. "The three nominees were selected from 11 outstanding presentations that ranged from two to 12 hours with kids involved in every step of the process."

The International Council of NATAS instituted the award in 1994 to acknowledge broadcasters participating in this annual event. "The award was created to help get more stations on board and to set the highest possible standards for that participation," explains Art Kane, Executive Director of the International Council. "It is also intended to promote programming that grabs the hearts and minds of kids and gives them the opportunity to speak up and be heard."

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