As we approach Earth Day 2023, editors of news for children around the world are asking their young audiences – those who will be most affected by climate change – to suggest the most important first step in saving the planet.
The news outlets in the #HowToSaveOurPlanetStep1
project, all of which have won multiple awards, will collect suggestions with publication in the run-up to Earth Day 2023.
Časoris in Slovenia is one of the participants. Dr. Sonja Merljak Zdovc, founder/editor, explains why: "I think that we put a tremendous burden on the shoulders of our youth: the responsibility for the future of our planet. It is only right then to listen to what they have to say. We as news creators for children can open up media space for their thoughts and ideas. Together then we can find possible solutions for the survival of the planet on which they will live much longer than will we adults."
Global Youth & News Media is organizing the campaign as an additional contribution to The Writing's On the Wall project for which it organized a storytelling challenge.
"Teenagers were invited to do profiles of climate champions," said Dr. Aralynn McMane, executive director at the France-based international nonprofit that brings together news media and the young. "Now younger children can have their say in all formats about what the next step should be in saving the planet."
The editors will share the results in their own outlets and online with the hashtag #HowToSaveOurPlanetStep1, and Global Youth & News Media will also spotlight the results in an e-book destined for decision-makers to remind them about for who they are really working.
Read below about our project partners and their work, which will appear in the run-up to Earth Day (22 April). Our media partner for this project is the global educational news service News Decoder in the context of The Writing's on the Wall project.
PROJECT PARTNERS SO FAR
= >1 million children
More project partners are most welcome. Just contact us via the form at the bottom of this page.
ČASORIS
Based in Slovenia, the daily online news outlet Časoris was created in April 2015 in the aftermath of that January's terrorist attack on the staff of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Now it reaches up to 10% of Slovenia's 195,000 primary school students. MORE
KID SCOOP
Based in the United States (California), Kid Scoop produces youth content in both a weekly newspaper youth feature format and as a monthly tabloid newspaper for children. The weekly feature appears in more than 250 newspapers. The monthly newspaper is published in four U.S. states. Kid Scoop’s combined reach is over 7 million children.
JUNIOR LENS
Junior Lens is a children’s e-newspaper that was introduced in the middle of the pandemic on 15 June 2020, with a print edition since October 2022.
MI SUPER DIARIO
Mi Super Diario began in 2003 and now has iterations appearing weekly in Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, Peru, Mexico and, until recently, Venezuela. Except for Honduras, where it goes free to schools, it appears with a local newspaper for a total of about 200,000 print copies each week. MORE (en español)
NEWS-O-MATIC
Founded in 2013, News-O-Matic delivers news daily to more than a million children in 148 countries at various reading levels in English, plus text and audio translations by native speakers in French, Spanish, Arabic and Mandarin. It is based in New York and Paris. MORE
JORNA DA CRIANÇA
Launched in São Paulo in 2019, Jornal da Criança serves more than 20 000 subscribers online and in print and with a monthly podcast. MORE
Kel YoUm
Based in Beirut (Lebanon), Planet News Business began the Kel Youm weekly Arabic newspaper in 2014 reaching up to 60,000 children each week through distribution in public and private Lebanese schools. It also produces the Yom Kom multimedia youth news platform in both Arabic and French, reaching about200,000 teenagers. Details: www.kelyoum.com and www.yomkom.com
JOCA
Launched in 2011, Joca's main product is a biweekly print edition with 302,000 subscribers in all Brazilian states and a daily online editon. MORE
CHILDPRESS.ORG
Based in the Netherlands since 2015, Childpress.org now has children running newsrooms in several European countries and South Africa. MORE