Authority proposes law to improve children's TV

A proposed strategy for good quality children's programming was yesterday presented to a national conference by the chief executive of the Broadcasting Authority, Kevin Aquilina.

Dr Aquilina suggested that the strategy should ideally be adopted by Parliament as the Children's Broadcasting Act.

The strategy proposes the setting up of a Quality Children's Programming Commission consisting of experts in the field, with a three-fold function, each of which would be carried out by a panel. There would be the consultancy, programme selection and programme monitoring panels.

The commission would coordinate the activities of the three panels, monitor progress and ensure that the objectives of the Act were achieved.

The strategy also proposes a legal and/or licence requirement that free-to-air television stations should broadcast a minimum number of hours of quality children's programming.

At the same time, adverts which harm minors would be prohibited.

Also proposed is the establishment of a fund for children's programmes which would receive a percentage of the television license fees.

The strategy also speaks of training for local broadcasters and producers, programming, awareness raising, enforcement and the impact of digital terrestrial television.

Joe Gerada, chief executive officer of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, pointed out that it would be ironic to have a law on children's broadcasting when the country was still discussing if it should have a law on children.

Marian Muscat Azzopardi, from the Council for Children, said that children had a right to quality programmes.

There was also general agreement that children had to be protected from violence, vulgarity, a racist attitude and lack of ethics.

Ms Muscat Azzopardi said that for a programme to be a quality one, the necessary effort had to be made for it to be suitable and appealing to children.

The Broadcasting Authority, Ms Muscat Azzopardi said, had prepared programme guidelines for the producers of children's programmes.

For instance, stories should reflect positive values, strengthen children's self-esteem, increase cooperation, express love and promote sensitivity to others. Stephen Zerafa said that a study on children's programmes commissioned by the Broadcasting Authority in 2000 concluded that children's programmes produced in Malta were consistently of a low quality, were wanting technically and were over-patronising.

Over the following three or four years, however, there was a notable improvement in the quality of some of the programmes due to an increased awareness of the problem and perhaps because producers and stations competed in the BA's programmes awards, he said.

However, it was felt that more needed to be done. Producers of children's television programmes had to be encouraged to improve the overall quality of their products and the authorities had to inspire them to make use of the considerable pool of local talent to better educate and entertain children by means of television.

PBS, Mr Zerafa said, still treated children's programmes as fillers while private stations regarded them as a source of revenue through never-ending advertisements and sponsorships.

Presenting a study commissioned by the Broadcasting Authority and conducted by herself and Jennifer Casingena Harper, Sandra Dingli said children saw a good production as one that included action, surprises, music and other activities.

The children demonstrated a real concern over appropriate content and often stated that good children's programmes should contain content suitable for them.

Adrian Hillman said that television programming affected children both positively and negatively.

One of the points he made was that while children recognised fiction in books from an early age, it was harder for them to accept television as fiction, since this looked more like real life. Mr Hillman said it was useless having quality television unless a parent was present to direct the child towards the programme. The need to create a culture of media literacy at all levels was crucial, he said.

And although the return on the investment of quality television programmes would take a decade to mature, a short-term solution was no solution at all, he said.

Gorg Mallia said that legislation was too rigid and might threaten the creativity of those creating children's programmes.

Children had to have fun and learn indirectly and one should not impose what one believed was good, he said.