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Where now for childrens TV?
155/Sue Tibbles
Sue Tibbles reports on the 12th annual children’s conference of Voice of the Listener and Viewer
DATELINE: 26/12/06
Tony Robinson introduced the Voice of the Listener and Viewer's 12th Annual Children's Conference on 2 November with the rallying call: "The imagination of our children is at stake." He told the Oxford meeting that politicians know nothing about television and are hostile to it, due to working unsocial hours and rarely watching programmes.
He said everyone who was concerned about children's development and education via broadcasting needed to be involved in the campaign to save children’s broadcasting and make the politicians, who are ultimately responsible, listen. We heard views from BBC, independent channels, Ofcom and other representatives, with a final session on how children’s broadcasting can be saved.
One notable absence was ITV. Nobody from ITV was prepared to attend either this conference or any similar event since June 2006. However, a new campaign, Save Kids’TV, has been launched to highlight the issues.
There were concerns that much of ITV's children’s programming has been funded from the revenue generated by advertisements for "junk" food. It is feared that the loss of that income could deprive children of high-quality television, and leave no competition for the BBC. Also the proposed move of the BBC to Manchester will have a huge impact on workers at the corporation and result in the loss of experienced people who do not wish to relocate.
The creator of the Teletubbies, Anne Wood, said there was still a climate of disapproval surrounding television, which is an easy scapegoat for many social ills. She argued that there is a very cynical attitude to the world today and childhood is being tainted by consumerism and profit-making by multinational companies.
It was disgraceful, she said, that the National Television Awards had no children's television categories, and children children - who are protected in all other areas of life - have no protection in the cultural area.
Ideas for future campaigning included making a case to the Treasury, lobbying for better legislation than the current Communications Act, supporting tax credits for broadcasting and approaching a wider range of people including faith groups, trade unions, and individuals, so that the campaign would not be viewed as merely serving its own interests.
LINKSwww.vlv.org.uk
www.savekidstv.org.uk
Last modified: Thursday, February 15, 2007
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Notices
Events & Announcements
World Press Freedom Day
More reporters are currently imprisoned in Turkey than in any other country in the world. Only a matter of weeks ago lawyers failed to persuade a Turkish court to release a 76-year-old journalist from a Turkish internet news station.
World Press Freedom Day on Friday May 3, 2013 is being marked in Britain by a rally to highlight the dangers facing journalists in Turkey and in this podcast, Nicholas Jones speaks to Barry White, Organiser at the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, and Sam Bamford, the TUC's policy officer for Eastern Europe and Africa about the importance of a campaign to highlight international press freedom.
The World Press Freedom Day rally is being staged by the National Union of Journalists at the NUJ head office, Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1 on Thursday May 2, 6pm-8pm.
DATELINE: 27/4/13
UK launch of EU media campaign
DATELINE: 13/3/13
The UK launch of a 'European Citizens' Initiative' calling for EU rules against concentration of media power will take place on Thursday March 21 from 11:00am – 12:30pm in Committee Room 4A at the House of Lords, London. Guest speakers will include actor and activist Hugh Grant (pictured), media consultant Claire Enders, Professor Steven Barnett, Barry McCall (President of the NUJ) and Marc Gruber (Director of the European Federation of Journalists).
A European Citizens' Initiative is an official petition, like a Downing Street petition. If it succeeds in gathering a million signatures across the EU, the Commission is obliged to respond.
This petition calls for the EU to act to protect media pluralism and press freedom.
CPBF Annual General Meeting
DATELINE: 1/3/13
Make a note in your diary
Saturday 13 July 2013 from 10.00am
NUJ HQ, 308/312 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1.
Leveson, media ownership, CPBF future work.
DOWNLOAD FREEPRESS NOW
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Download Freepress in PDF, ePub or mobi format. Issue 194 now available.
MEDIA FOR ALL CONFERENCE
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Papers from the Media for All Conference
MEDIA MANIFESTO
DATELINE: 26/3/10
The media’s job is to inform and entertain us but we rely on them too to tell us what our rulers and representatives are up to. In the run-up to the Iraq war the government used spin and disinformation in the media to create panic and mislead people. The truth is coming out now, but we need stronger, more independent media to be able to scrutinise governments and make informed choices.
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Previous stories
Miscellany
Sri Lanka and the CPBF
AGM calls for new direction for the CPBF
Report of Work 2005
Give money to Greg Palast
The UK Terror plot: what's really going on?
The war on Palestine's orphans
Interpal accuses Panorama of lack of balance
Free Press index launched
Without Comment
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Without Comment
Without Comment
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Beyond TV: everything for the video activist
Without Comment
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Spies like us....
Sir Frank Rogers: Obituary
Not so public launch
Indymedia seizure explained - in part
NUJ's new place in the Sun
Without Comment: FA hires from DCMS
Jim’s Journal
Without Comment
Without Comment
Without Comment
Read this...
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