World

pop stars supported a big campaign was in 1986. When ahuge concert raised money for striving children inEthiopia. Getting world debt cancelled is a far bigger taskbut with so many famous names signing up, hope is nowon. (15.2.99 BBC1 Newsround 1700-1710)Three of the bulletins in our sample referred toconflict in this region. On 2 March Newsround coveredthe Western tourists killed on safari in Uganda byRwandan Hutu rebels. The background visuals for thenewscaster showed African rebels dancing in grass skirtsas a border post. Two of the reports focused on childsoldiers. On 11 January, this focused on ‘youngprotesters’ who were fronting a new campaign to protestagainst the use of child soldiers in London. We are toldthat ‘hundreds of thousands of young people are forcedto fight in 44 countries across Africa. 300,000 childrenare in the firing line and thousands are killed. In somecountries, children as young as eight years are recruited.Another report on 4 March is extremely engaging in theway it talks to the children directly. For example:Presenter: The tragedy of children forced to fight warsabroad.Reporter: Hello and first the suffering of children forcedto become soldiers. In many parts of the world, childrenare being captured, taken from their families and trainedfor battle. The charity Save The Children is calling for thispractice to be made illegal throughout the world. One ofthe most brutal wars is taking place in Africa, therehundreds of children have been trained by rebel forces tohelp fight against the current government in SierraLeone.The visuals switch to a soldier pushing a child lessthan eight years old over to his jeep. The reportcontinues:Reporter: Like hundreds of other children, Moses wastaken from his family and trained to be a soldier. Thisvideo was filmed earlier this year.Reporter: The soldiers say children make good soldiersbecause they quickly learn how to follow ordersYoung Boy: They catch people and make you join, theyteach you how to shoot, they make you walk a long wayand teach you how to spyReporter: The journalist who filmed Moses believescountries around the world need to help children like himSorious Samura, Journalist: I just hope for their sakethat the outside world will give us the support and let thesechildren have the opportunity and the lifestyle that theydeserve as children.Reporter: Plans are underway to make it a crimeeverywhere in the world for children under 15 years to betrained as soldiers, but that won’t happen for another 7years when an international court is set up. Charities likeSave the Children are new pressing for that to happenmore quickly to protect young people like Moses. He’snow being encouraged to make friends by other childrenat the camp, despite all they’ve seen, their kindness to eachother hasn’t been destroyed. (BBC1 1700-1710)Natural disasters were another key area of thecoverage. There were four items which focused on this, allof which occurred in January. These mainly focused onthe Colombian earthquake which occurred at this time,three of the four items referred to this between 26-28February. Layers of description appear with almost noexplanation of either the events or their damagingimpact on the economic infrastructure of the countryand its future long term development. In this itreproduced the pattern which has already been identifiedin the main adult news bulletins.The other report in this section was on flooding inthe Pacific island of Fiji. Similar to the reports onColombia, the story of the flood in is also purelydescriptive:Presenter: Severe flooding in the Pacific island of Fiji hasleft one person drowned and hundreds stranded. 24hours of heavy rain caused flood waters to rise as high asfour feet damaging shops and homes. (BBC1 Newsround1700-1710)Three programmes offered an alternative view ofdeveloping countries. These were concentrated withinthe month of February. These focused entirely onpositive issues and focused on festivals and celebrations.By explaining other cultures, they convey the culturaldiversity of nations. Two of the three programmesfocused on the Brazil carnival when a young viewertravelled to Brazil to present the report and interviewlocal performers and participants. For example:Presenter: Now to our latest presspack reporter as thestreet party on a grand scale. 13 year-old Lucy Williamsin Surrey put on her dancing shoes to attend the world’sbiggest carnival, she joined millions of other party goers atthe week long celebrations held every year in the city ofSalvador on the East coast of Brazil. Here’s her report.Beto Daltro, Carnival Performer: Basically, thepeople here get together every year to celebrate life andthis year’s more special because Salvador, the capital is150 years old.DFID – July 2000 67