Our international jury chose 12 laureates for the 2021 edition (five gold awards and seven silver awards) as champions in providing children with excellent coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic in an amazing variety of ways. We've provided resources (cases and videos) so you can learn how those winners did it.
2021 Laureates
GOLD AWARDS
News-o-Matic (USA), Die Zeit (Germany), Kompas.com (Indonesia), The Straits Times (Singapore), Børneavisen (Denmark)
SILVER AWARDS - >>> REORDER !!!
RTV Infodrome (Slovenia), First News (United Kingdom), NBC Nightly News Kids Edition (USA) CBC Kids News (Canada), Kid Scoop (USA), STV Lilla Aktuelt (Sweden), Teaching Kids News (Canada)
GOLD AWARD
NEWS-O-MATIC (USA)
News-O-Matic, the global interactive daily news operation, produces five stories per day in English, French, Spanish and Arabic at different levels of reading for children ages 6 to 14. It produced more than 500 stories about COVID-19. Coverage focused on the positive, but never strayed far from the realities. For example, News-O-Matic featured children all over the world who were making a difference and also gave “junior reporters” the chance to interview science and medical experts about the tough facts and fiction they were seeing elsewhere. Children responded, sending thousands of drawings, questions, comments, and words of gratitude.
OUR JURY SAID
News-O-Matic can be very proud of its enormous impact. We love how the team offered grade appropriate, easily accessible, high quality content for children and gave them the chance to interview scientists and other people to whom they would usually never have access. (And it was good for those being interviewed!)
THE DETAILS THE VIDEO
GOLD AWARD
DIE ZEIT LEO KIDS PAGE (GERMANY)
The LEO-Kid's Page of the weekly newspaper DIE ZEIT initiated a joint art-project with the International Museum of Children’s Art in Oslo, Norway, to create a virtual and physical global #kidspaintcorona exhibit. More than 5500 pieces of art from 64 countries were received. The children taking part were between 2 and 18 years old. Some artwork appeared in die ZEIT (print), in ZEIT Online and in other newspapers and on websites worldwide. News organization partners were Washington Post (USA), News-O-Matic (US and France), Joca newspaper (Brazil), Anorak (UK), Le Journal des Enfants (France), Mi Super Diario ( Latin America). Most of the artwork can still be seen on the website of the museum.
OUR JURY SAID
This truly global endeavor perfectly shows the impact of institutional collaboration in giving a voice to children who, in spite of living apart, were united by a common theme. We were blown away by the stunning and imaginative artwork. This is totally worth replicating locally.
GOLD AWARD
KOMPAS.COM
INDONESIA
Kompas.com’s VIK (Visual Interaktif Kompas) produced a Viron series that created a six-episode webtoon and a highly gamified a news quiz to help children understand both the science and social impact of the pandemic. The content attracted teachers and students and also at least 50 000 adult readers, many of whom reported that they found the content clearer and more interesting than coverage aimed at them.
OUR JURY SAID
Wow! We loved the idea to use webcomics and storytelling in vernacular language to share an important message. This innovative and thoughtful campaign featured collaboration as a key to its success within Kompas itself and with freelancers, teachers plus new donor partners, including the National Geographic Society, which financed a last set of webtoons
GOLD AWARD
STRAITS TIMES LITTLE RED DOT
SINGAPORE
The Straits Times Schools team took a multifaceted approach in its Little Red Dot subscription-based publication to the pandemic with content that empowered its 10- to 12-year-old readers to play a role in fighting misinformation and spreading awareness within their families and communities. That content often used humor to make it memorable and focused on using subtle cues and nudges to encourage children to share positive thoughts and actions. A three-part “Choose your Own Adventure” game taught about the impact of small choices one makes. During two months at the height of the pandemic, free distribution content meant that Little Red Dot reached at least 48,000 pupils from 175 primary schools, a 98 percent market penetration.
OUR JURY SAID
We love that The Straits Times maintained a wry touch while promoting social resilience and viewed children as powerful ambassadors of health in their families. The “Choose your own adventure” game was a truly innovative way to explain right and wrong choices without preaching. Congratulations on getting it just right!
GOLD AWARD
BøRNEAVISEN
Denmark
Børneavisen, a weekly print edition for 9- to 12-year-olds from Denmark’s JP/Politiken Hus, used a new app to help it become the children’s voice for that country in the massive media coverage of the pandemic. Armed with questions from readers, child reporters worked with professional journalists to question people in power. The effort also included an exclusive interview with the Danish prime minister. To make sure the information was circulated as widely as possible, the publisher sent free copies to 300,000 Danish households and, in a special campaign, a further 10,000 free copies to families while at their summer abodes.
OUR JURY SAID
Congratulations to the team for their innovation and the empowerment of their audience to be able, themselves, to curate and create the news they want. This is not only a key aspect of children’s rights governance, it’s good business. We think this project offers real inspiration in engaging youth as true partners and stakeholders. Well done!
SILVER AWARD
INFODROM • IZODROM
SLOVENIA
The public broadcaster pivoted the focus of Infodrom, its weekly children’s news show, to create Izodrom that featured a more interactive, daily news format and educational content during the height of the pandemic there in Spring 2020.. Content focused on answering children's questions about the pandemic, including those from children in Slovenia's wide diaspora who helped make clear the global nature of the pandemic, as did content from other broadcasters who were members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
The show received more than 100 questions a day and used video content generated by young viewers. One special segment had the country’s education minister answer children’s questions just before school was to start, with young viewers rating her answers.
OUR JURY SAID
Kudos to the team for producing interactive content quickly to respond to children needing answers NOW! This was an incredible redirection of resources that perhaps only a public broadcaster can harness, a move that fantastically served your young audience. We love the creative ways you used to produce content!
SILVER AWARD
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS KIDS EDITION
USA
Shortly after the pandemic hit in early 2020, leading U.S. journalist Lester Holt and the team at NBC Nightly News created NBC Nightly News: Kids Edition. It debuted online that April and quickly became a weekly powerhouse resource that NBC now also broadcasts on occasional Saturday mornings, prime time for child viewing. The weekly broadcast offers reports based mostly on children’s questions from network correspondents all over the world. Its “Ask The Doc” segment features medical correspondent Dr. John Torres. An “Inspiring Kids” series spotlights children who are helping their communities.
OUR JURY SAID
Bravo for a fantastic commitment from a major commercial broadcaster to dedicate such substantial resources to prime-time news for children. Kudos to NBC and Lester Holt’s top production team (made up of mostly awesome women, we have learned) for successfully concocting this wonderful show and to NBC’s global network of correspondents for providing such rich, diverse content.
SILVER AWARD
TEACHING KIDS NEWS
CANADA
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SILVER AWARD
CBC KIDS NEWS
cANADA
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SILVER AWARD
FIRST NEWS
United Kingdom
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SILVER AWARD
KID SCOOP
USA
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SILVER AWARD
SVT Lilla Aktuel
SWEDEN
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