NEWS: Norway local press group takes top World Young Reader Prize

Paris, France and Frankfurt, Germany, 22 September 2014 - For immediate release
Norway local press group takes top World Young Reader Prize

The Norwegian local media group Amedia has been named World Young Reader News Publisher of the Year for putting young people in the heart of its overall readership strategy.
The top distinction in the World Young Readers Prizes, the annual awards from the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), recognized the local press group’s commitment to youth as a long-term, must-do priority.

 “This is one of the best long-term young readers programmes ever: led by extensive research, thought out and strategic, guided by a 'need to have' philosophy about young readers,” the jury said in making the award.

The World Young Reader Prizes are part of WAN-IFRA’s efforts to recognise, encourage and disseminate innovative ideas and thinking to help build stronger and vital news media. World Young Reader Prize winning strategies are celebrated and shared as they benefit not only the media companies and their young audiences but also society as a whole.

The awards will be presented at the WAN-IFRA World Young Reader Summit and Ideathon from 24 to 26 November in Bali, Indonesia, a free event with admission open to all news publishers, with priority to WAN-IFRA members and past prize winners.  More about the summit can be found at http://www.wan-ifra.org/node/113678

In all, news publishing companies from 13 countries were honoured with World Young Reader Prizes, including these top winners:

WORLD YOUNG READER NEWS PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR

Amedia group (Norway) - Amedia’s multifaceted actions include an ongoing study of the same 3,500 young people since 2008, a daily youth enhancement tip for all the group’s editors, along with a bi-annual compilation of global best, workshops and resources for using the news in education, and an annual Young Reader Conference for the group’s newspapers. And they share some of this with their competitors.

A GREAT HELP – TOP AWARD

Mindener Tageblatt (Germany) for Azubify - a multiplatform set of tools to help companies and youth connect for apprenticeships. This award special category was supported by Chevron and honors a win-win partnership with a financial supporter that helps sustain excellence in news publisher engagement and service of youth.

BRAND – TOP AWARD

Volksblad (South Africa) for SkoolBLUES, interactive comic strip for teenagers.

DIGITAL FIRST - TOP AWARD

VietnamPlus for “Rapping the News”. This special category award is supported by CCI and honors the news publisher that most creatively engages the young through mobile telephones, tablets and other digital devices.

ENDURING EXCELLENCE - (THREE-WAY TIE FOR THE TOP AWARD)

The Star (Malaysia) for the R.AGE news and social media youth initiative that reinvented itself with an array of face-to-face initiatives.

Singapore Press Holdings (Singapore) for The Straits Times Schools Programme – a decade-old multifaceted youth engagement approach that continues to innovate.

Gazeta do Povo (Brazil) for the "Read and Think" news in education programme that continues to offer methods and solid, useful research

GOING GREEN – TOP AWARD

The Mathrubhurni Daily (India) for a "Free The Tree" campaign by youth to stop advertisements being attached to trees. This special category was supported by GreenTEC Campus of Germany and honours projects that give the young guidance and hope for improving the environment.

NEWS IN EDUCATION – TOP AWARD

Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlag (Germany) for a Tablet Class program that offers equipment and training to raise awareness among students of news on tablet devices.

PLAYING WITH THE NEWS – TOP AWARD

Jakarta Post (Indonesia) for “Youth Speak Fun Day”, a language festival of competitions, news simulations, games and entertainment to help strengthen the English skills of 15- to 17-year-olds. It is supported by Capital of Children of Denmark and honors initiatives with inventive activities that teach about the news by getting them involved in the news process

PUBLIC SERVICE - TOP AWARD

The Guardian (UK) for a highly interactive children's book website where children read, write and publish reviews, connect with other young readers and have face-to-face interview authors.

Details about the other winners can be found at http:/www.wan-ifra.org/node/116566

Learn more about WAN-IFRA’s news literacy and youth engagement work at www.wan-ifra.org/newsliteracy

WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Frankfurt, Germany, with subsidiaries in Singapore and India, is the global organisation of the world’s newspapers and news publishers. It represents more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries. Its core mission is to defend and promote press freedom, quality journalism and editorial integrity and the development of prosperous businesses.

Inquiries to: Dr. Aralynn McMane, executive director for youth engagement and news literacy, WAN-IFRA, 96 bis, rue Beaubourg, 75003 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 42 78 92 33. E-mail: worldyoungreaderprize@wan-ifra
 

AWARDS: European Award for Best Content for Kids

The European Award for Best Content for Kids has now been launched Europe-wide, with the aim of highlighting existing quality content for 4 to12-year-old children and encouraging the production of new content that will offer young people online opportunities to learn, play, discover and invent. It is organised by the European Commission with the support of Insafe.

The award aims to collect creative examples of positive content for children and young people. Adults can compete in two categories creating content for children up to 12 years, while young people can also design content for peers up to 18 years of age. The competition will run in most EU member states and also in Iceland, Norway and Russia during 2013.

National winners will be put forward to a European-level competition and winners will be announced on Safer Internet Day, Tuesday 11 February 2014, at an awards ceremony in Brussels. The award represents a great opportunity for European content producers to showcase their work to a wide audience, and to contribute to a better internet for children. We are looking forward to many inspirational competition entries. Be creative, think positive - and participate!

Visit the award website for further information or view the full press release here.

Source

NEWS / RESEARCH: Digital bullying in Norway (EUROPE)

A new survey conducted by Telenor shows that two out of three Norwegian kids have experienced digital bullying or teasing within their social circle. Yesterday marked the start of the fifth season of the "Use your head" campaign; Norway's biggest campaign against digital bullying.

The survey shows that 66 percent of children between the age of 10 to 15 have experienced digital bullying or teasing within their social circle, either on the Internet or via mobile phones. 14 percent says it's is normal to experience digital bullying.

"Every single day thousands of Norwegian children are being bullied via mobile phones or the Internet. This is unacceptable. The fight against digital bullying is a huge challenge that we have to take seriously and try to do something about," says Ragnar Kårhus, head of Telenor Norway.

full article

NEWS / STUDIES: Young Swedes And Norwegians Boost TV Viewing Times (SCANDINAVIA)

The average daily time that Swedes and Norwegians spent watching TV last year reached a record 116 and 184 minutes respectively, up by 6 minutes for Sweden and 10 minutes for Norway compared to 2008. Youngsters aged 15-24 are the most avid TV viewers.

TV Viewing Times Increase

In Sweden, youngsters between 15-24 years old watched television 100 minutes a day, 12% more than in 2008 according to a 2009 report published by audience research agency MMS. The older age group 40-59 also spent more time in front of their TV (up 8.5% to 188 minutes a day in 2009), unlike the other age groups 3-14 and 25-39 that slightly reduced their daily viewing time. A research from the Norwegian broadcasting corporation NRK shows similarities within the Norwegian population, in particular the 20-29 years old who watched half an hour more television in 2009 than in 2008.

full article

EVENTS: Kristiansand Kids Fest Opens With Max Pinlig

The best children's films from Norway and Europe are on the programme of the 12th Kristiansand International Children's Film Festival, on the southern coast of Norway. The six-day film festival will kick start on April 28 with Denmark's Max Pinlig (Max Embarrassing).
Max Pinlig

Lotte Svendsen's local Danish hit is among 13 feature films competing in the main competition for the NOK 75,000 Film & Kino Children's Film Prize. Other titles include Sweden's Flickan (The Girl) and Pettson & Findus IV, and Denmark's Karla & Katrine. The Youth programme, opening with Sweden's I taket lyser stjärnorna (Glowing Stars), has another 11 films on show, among others Norway's youth drama Yatzy which has sold over 22,000 tickets domestically in five weeks. A total of 99 films from 23 countries will be screening in Kristiansand, including 58 Norwegian premieres.

full article

EVENTS: Youth Panel at the Norwegian Amandus Film Festival for children

Youth Panel at the Norwegian Amandus Film Festival for children

The Norwegian Media Authority and its Youth Panel will be hosting a seminar on Media literacy concerning film and gaming. The subject will be on how children understand age rating in films and games - and if this aligns with their own understanding of the protection of minors.

The 21st Amandus Film Festival begins in Lillehammer March 30th. This is a festival for young moviemakers under the age of 20, and is being held in cooperation with Lillehammer University College and the Norwegian Film Institute.

full article

EVENTS: NUFF 2009 (Norway)

7th annual Youth Cinema Film Revolution 2009 June 6th to 14th in Tromsø, Norway.

Call for entries for young filmmakers between 15 and 25 years old with films from the last two years and not longer than 20 minutes. All genres!

Nordic Youth Film Competition: Only for filmmakers from the Nordic Countries!

International Youth Film Program: Open for international filmmakers

NUFF Film Workshops: Open for international filmmakers

Deadline for film and workshop entries is 2009 April 1st!

Check it out at www.nuff.no