ABSTRACT

Engaging children in news is important for their participation in the public sphere. However, producers of children’s news face a trade-off between fully informing children and not causing distress. Against the background of technological, economic, and ideological changes in the media landscape, this study examined the use of consolation strategies in the Dutch children’s news, and whether these have shifted between 2000 and 2016. A manual content analysis was conducted, focusing on strategies used within the entire newscast (N = 408 programs), within items (N = 2,304 items), and within camera shots (N = 41,338 shots). Results showed that, on the one hand, the Dutch children’s news seems to become less inclined to protect children, by showing a decrease in expert sources and distant shots, and an increase in the repetition of sensational images and the prevalence of frightening sounds. On the other hand, the attention for sensational topics is relatively low and has not changed over time. Also, the use of the sandwich formula, animations and reassuring comments by the host or reporter did not change over the years. Yet, the use of children as a source has risen, which might signal a greater focus on stories of children themselves.

摘要

让儿童参与新闻对于他们参与公共领域很重要。然而，儿童新闻的制作人面临着充分告知儿童和不造成痛苦之间的权衡。在媒体格局发生技术、经济和意识形态变化的背景下，本研究调查了荷兰儿童新闻中安慰策略的使用情况，以及这些策略在 2000 年至 2016 年间是否发生了变化。进行了手动内容分析，重点是策略在整个新闻广播（N  = 408 个节目）、项目（N  = 2,304 个项目）和相机镜头（N = 41,338 次拍摄）。结果表明，一方面，荷兰儿童新闻似乎不太愿意保护儿童，专家消息来源和远距离镜头减少，耸人听闻的图像重复和可怕声音的流行增加。另一方面，耸人听闻的话题关注度相对较低，并且没有随着时间的推移而改变。此外，多年来，主持人或记者对三明治公式、动画和令人放心的评论的使用也没有改变。然而，越来越多地使用儿童作为来源，这可能表明人们更加关注儿童本身的故事。