NEWS: Young citizen journalists training comes to an end

Islamabad - The first-ever Youth TechCamp in Pakistan concluded Saturday after three days of hands-on, interactive training in civic journalism and social activism, says a press release.

“I am really excited about Youth TechCamp because I believe I can help my community and my country as a whole through social media and citizen journalism,” said a young boy named Ali from Quetta, beaming with excitement at the event on Thursday.

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EVENTS: Children’s film festival underway in Lahore

LAHORE: The Little Art group in collaboration with Teacher's Resource Center, is holding 4th International Children's Film Festival, Geo News reported.

Held at the Ali auditorium at the Ali Institute of Education, the ceremony marked the second day of the six-day long film festival in which 86 films from 32 countries will be screened.

The organizers here on Tuesday said the festival is aimed at enhancing media literacy of young people, fostering children's creativity and imagination by showcasing the very best in filmmaking for and by children and young people.

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PROJECTS: Citizen Journalists from Afghanistan, Pakistan and India Connect on “Bridges of Youth”

Growing out of a Kabul-based master class on peace and citizen journalism, Pul-e-Jawan(Bridges of Youth) has become a platform and ongoing exchange of ideas for young people involved in media in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.

"Pul-e-Jawan is the only platform that I know where nationals of the three nations discuss and share their thoughts on regional issues," said Hameed Tasal, a web developer and blogger from Kabul. "It provided me with an opportunity to share my own experiences and thoughts with this special group."

Fifteen young bloggers, citizen journalists, filmmakers and technologists gathered together for the first time last fall to discuss security issues with policymakers, NGO representatives, academics, journalists and experts in the field. The workshop focused on how to use online and social media tools to address social causes, common challenges, and shared aspirations in the three countries.

Part of InternewsNext, a series highlighting 30 youth-led media initiatives.

read the full article on the Internews website

ARTICLES / TV: What are your kids watching? (PAKISTAN)

The media and internet have exposed us to a host of different kinds of content. Content that ranges from news to entertainment, from documentaries to dramas. While of course what content should be made available or not is a debate that rests in more of the collective conscious of society and cultural norms. Yet, one thing that a general consensus can be reached upon is what content is suitable for our children or not.

Whether content that personifies drug use is wrong or not, or should be shown or not for an adult is open for debate. Some would argue that an adult is sensible to understand that the content is fiction or perhaps not real, and others would argue that it is still influencing. What however, we will find little argument on is the fact that a six year old should not be watching such content and being so desensitised to its subject matter, specially at such an impressionable age.

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NEWS / TRAINING: Intermedia Pakistan launches training sessions on child reporting

ISLAMABAD: Journalists from different print and electronic news media outlets in Islamabad will attend a day long training session today (Tuesday) on professional reporting about children in Pakistan.

The training is being arranged by Intermedia Pakistan, a media development organisation, working with UNICEF to improve the extent and quality of public discourse about child rights and protection issues. The project website www.childreninmedia.pk has also been launched; it will feature updates, news and events related to this initiative and will also highlight news content developed by the trained journalists. The media training in Islamabad follows the development of a code of ethics on child rights and protection issues. The code was drafted after consultation with senior journalists, media managers and relevant civil society organisations. The formal endorsement of voluntary code of ethics was done through two events organised in Karachi and Lahore by major media organisations.

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EVENTS: Young filmmakers screen short films in competition (PAKISTAN)

ISLAMABAD: Young filmmakers screened their filming skills on Friday at ‘Screen My Shorts - a short film screening competition’ at Kuch Khaas Centre for Arts, Culture and Dialogue.

The event was planned to help young talent promote their work and gave appreciation and critique to budding filmmakers with useful tips and tricks. Youth participated in the competition with short films, videos, animations and documentaries for introducing their innovative ideas to the audience of twin cities.

Around 10-15 short films were selected and screened, based on the quality of direction, concept, script, cinematography and editing. A jury of distinguished filmmakers selected the best films, which will then be promoted through different programmes of Kuch Khaas.

full article - Kuch Khaas website

FESTIVALS / EVENTS: 2nd Lahore International Children's FIlm Festival

The festival is reportedly an exciting pack of events which have both morning and evenings shows that will continue to screen for five days back to back.

The festival is being organised in Lahore by The Little Art, an organisations dedicated to produce innovative arts and education projects for children and the youth of Pakistan. It is a youth-led organisation that is determined to promote the principals and ideals of democracy, equality, civil rights, community, prosperity, higher education, religious, cultural tolerance and sustaining cultural heritage through their numerous artistic avenues that especially focus on the media to reach out to children and young people as their target audience.

The festival was previously organised in 2008 and 2009 and since the last three years it has attracted an audience of more than 20,000 people. Previous trends show that the festival generally draws in children, families and faculty members of various institutions.

The Little Art held their last project on January 2011 in which five schools and two organisations worked with the marginalized children to stage theatre plays.

As a result of its international submission call, the festival received near 400 films from all over the world and has selected some of the best productions that will be suitable for children in Pakistan.

The festival director Shoaib Iqbal says: “The festival is proudly becoming synonymous with a sense of wonder and delight, of cultivating the young hearts and minds destined to become our future leaders. And we are proud to lead the innovation in the arts education in Pakistan.

The full schedule of the films can be accessed from the festival website.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 27^th, 2011.

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ARTICLES: The media vacuum: A lack of youth representation on TV (PAKISTAN)

If someone outside Pakistan was watching our channels and our television shows, they would simply wonder: where are all the youngsters? Do they even exist in Pakistan? Perhaps not, because they can’t be seen on TV; and if you aren’t on TV, then you don’t exist.

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NEWS / EVENTS: Child rights and the media (PAKISTAN)

PESHAWAR: Speakers at a workshop on child rights said Thursday the media could play an important role in raising awareness about children’s rights. The capacity-building workshop on child rights was organised by the Children’s Complaint Office, Peshawar.

“Pakistan is among the countries that signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, but violation of the rights continues and only the mass media can play a positive role in bringing about a change,” said one of the speakers.

Another participant said Article 17 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child recognised the important function performed by the mass media and stressed upon the states to encourage the mass media to disseminate information and material that is of social and cultural benefit for children.

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NEWS: $20 million windfall for Pakistani TV

ISLAMABAD // A US-funded project to develop educational television programming for Pakistani children has set the broadcast industry alight with an offer of enough funding to build and operate a world-class satellite channel.

USaid, the US Agency for International Development, issued a request for applications for its proposed Pakistan Children’s Television (PCTV) project on December 18, saying it intended to provide US$16 million to $20 million (Dh59m to Dh73m) over four years to the successful applicant.

“The overarching goal of PCTV is to develop the language, problem-solving and critical thinking abilities of children through television and other media programmes and outreach materials … [and it] also seeks to promote positive attitudes among young Pakistani audiences,” the USAID request document said.

full article - request for applications