Empowering children for a critical and judicious use and consumption of media is a main objective of media literacy. This paper aims to examine the range of television programs available for children in Portugal through a comparative analysis of the programming for children broadcast by the four Portuguese terrestrial channels (RTP1, RTP2, SIC and…

For nearly four decades, Sesame Workshop has brought the joy of learning to the world's youngest citizens through the introduction of locally-produced coproductions of the preschool television series, "Sesame Street". Many of these television shows have been specifically designed to forward important prosocial messages directly linked to…

To inform Swedish program policy discussions, this study traced patterns in fictional television programing for children and young adults in Sweden. Three sets of questions were central to the inquiry. First, what does "the TV world" look like? Who lives there? Who are the dominant figures? What settings are depicted? How are socially…

Examined the cultural basis and relevance of "Zhima Jie," a Chinese adaptation of "Sesame Street." Found that most of 3- to 6-year-olds in the sample desired books and learning materials, with disadvantaged children more likely than more advantaged children to desire books and learning materials. Older children showed a greater…

The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the opinions of parents of pre-school children about children's programmes on TV. The study had two phases: In the first step "The Evaluation Scale for Children's Programmes" was translated into Turkish, the reliability and validity of the scale was tested through analyzing of the data…

The results of research undertaken to assess the impact of "Big Blue Marble," an international series of children's television shows sponsored by the International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation, are outlined in this paper. Summaries of the following projects are included: a concept study of consultants' roles in the early stages of…

Summarizes the views presented at a public inquiry conducted by the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal. (SB)

Provides examples from a study of six test segments of the television series "Alam Simsim," the Egyptian "Sesame Street," to illustrate how a systematic analysis of children's artwork can be used with other research tools to gain feedback from children. Shows how formative research is used to bring children into the production…

This summary of a 3-day informal gathering hosted by the Children's Broadcast Institute in October 1977 for producers, programmers, writers, researchers, advertisers, and consumers, includes introductory remarks by Dr. Fred B. Rainsberry, brief bibliographies of the speakers and workshop participants, the agenda, and summaries of presentations by…

Finds that male characters outnumbered female characters by a ratio of 2:1, but that female characters enjoyed far greater representation in cartoons produced in Japan than in cartoons produced in the United States and Great Britain. Shows that characters conformed to gender-related stereotypes, with males being more aggressive, rough, sloppy, and…

"Lift Off" is a new, innovative children's television series produced by the Australian Children's Television Foundation that has been well received by young children, parents, critics, and educators. One typical half-hour program is profiled. Questions the claims that "Lift Off" will enrich the lives of a whole age cohort,…

Reactions of 50 2-year-old and 46 4-year-old Japanese children to selected experimental television programs were examined in two studies. The child was placed with his or her mother in a room where the experimental program was shown on one television and a fast-moving animation without sound was shown on a second television as a distractor. The…

Studied violence on children's television in Britain. Found 39% of children's programs examined contained violence, primarily involving shootings and physical assault committed for negative purposes and rarely followed by painful consequences. The fast pace of such programs is also a significant factor. Results pose wider implications for those…

Provides examples from six studies to illustrate how the formative research element of the Sesame Workshop production model has been used to create effective educational media in the United States, South Africa, Egypt, and China. Shows how lessons learned from formative studies provide insights into the development of new research methodologies…

This study investigated what and how preschool children view children's television programs, with a focus on cultural and ecological factors which might affect their visual attention and the nature of their immediate recall of content. The secondary task method (in which an individual is required to perform two tasks simultaneously) was applied to…