The Right Stuff magazine

The Right Stuff magazine was designed and written by more than 30 under 18 year-olds from across England, with the aim of promoting young people’s interest in children’s human rights and encouraging them to take action to achieve change for children. Articles cover a range of topics including the experiences of children in care; how children seeking asylum in the UK are treated; student protests; human rights fashion; protest music; and discrimination based on hair colour

Useful link: Magic

About MAGIC

Magic has a lot of information in relation to childrens' rights and the media and provides useful resources and links. I especially like their collaboration with oneminutevideo junior . (Recently, however, it has been difficult to access this website - let us hope it is only temporarily).

In 1996 the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which advises governments on their implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child held a consultation on children and the media.

A working group then began to explore the issues involved in developing a positive relationship between children and the media. In 1998, the Norwegian Government and UNICEF initiated a process that would identify examples of good practice, forge cooperative links among the many sectors involved, and produce resources to encourage further developments in the field.

In November 1999, young people involved in media projects, media professionals and child rights experts gathered in the Norwegian capital Oslo to discuss the role the media can play in the development of children's rights throughout the world, under five headings:

• Children's right of access to the media, including new media

• Children's right to media education and literacy

• Children's right to participate in the media

• Children's right to protection from harm in the media and violence on the screen

• The media's role in protecting and promoting children's rights

From their deliberations emerged the Oslo Challenge.

The Oslo Challenge Network was set up for professionals and organizations working in the field of children and the media to share information and ideas. This network - now known as the MAGIC Network - communicates through an email group. If you would like to join this group, just go to the Join MAGIC section of this website.

The Media and Children's Rights

A very useful and reader friendly handbook on children and the media:

The Media and Children's rights

This is a new (2005) edition of a handbook designed to help journalists monitor their government’s performance as signatories to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The Media and Children’s Rights has been produced by the Bristol-based media ethics charity MediaWise on behalf of UNICEF. The revised and expanded, pocket-sized edition, based on the practical experience of working journalists, includes story ideas drawn from issues raised by the UNCRC and checklists to ensure that media professionals acknowledge children rights in their working practices.

It is a useful addition to “Putting children in the right” (Guidelines for Journalists and media professionals) by the International Federation of Journalists.