ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

1. ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

2. ANDI + ANDI Latin American Network Journalism, Children’s Rights and Public Policies Democracy, Governance and Accountability: the contribution of media and communication BBC World Service Trust / Communication Initiative LONDON – 16th January 2008 ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

3. Background – Brazil A country of young people 2006: 180 million people Children and adolescents: 62 million Children under 12 years old: 41 million Adolescents: 21 million Brazilian children and adolescents represent 1/3 of all the country’s inhabitants They also represent1/3 of Latin American and Caribbean population under 18 * IBGE and UNICEF Report 2006 ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

4. Background – Brazil Economy GDP: US$ 1,067 trillion 10th world economy * World Bank – 2006 ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

5. Background – Brazil Income concentration GINI Index: 0,593 8th most unequal country Richest 10% owns 46,9% of income Poorest 10% owns 0,7% of income * UNDP – 2005 ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

6. Background – Brazil Human Development Index Since 1990, Brazil increased 14 positions (177 countries) 2006: 69th position (HDI = 0,792) 2007: Brazil joined the high Human Development group (HDI = 0,800) President Lula’s effort to fight poverty are beginning to show results ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

7. Background – Media Latin America: recent democracies Public media groups are rare and rather government- and not public-oriented Regulatory apparatus tend to be weak Highly concentrated media ownership structure Many journalists are poorly educated and work under difficult conditions ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

8. Background – Media High degree of media freedom and some strong private groups Improved technical quality Impoverished content – particularly in the loss of cultural, educational and developmental content* * DFID. Mass Media. Keysheet, n. 22./ August 2003 ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

9. Background - Media Concerns on media ownership Eight in ten Brazilians agree that increasing ownership concentration is a major issue because owners’ political views often emerge in news reporting * BBC World Service (Globescan poll of 11,344 people across 14 countries / December 2007) ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

10. Background - Media Absence of pluralism / biased coverage A recent research by ONADEM found an homogenous approach in the way 15 Bolivian newspapers covered the debate around the country’s new constitution Besides that, it was noticed that the same editorial could be published by two or even three different papers (owned by rival media groups) – all the editorials criticized the new legislation proposal * ONADEM (Observatorio Nacional de Medios). Lineas de Opinion en torno al Proceso Constintuyente - 2007 ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

11. The need for a strong Media System Press freedom is an essential condition, but not a sufficient one for the media to play a pro-active role in democracy, governance and developmental processes. Some other conditions must be fulfilled: A sound regulatory framework (media groups + access to public information) Media groups that are relatively independent of political and economic interests Constant capacity building and institutional empowerment of journalists who cover these issues An well established and diverse Media Accountability System - M.A.S. (Who guards the guardians?) ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

12. Good journalism Three main characteristics Provides the citizenry with trustworthy, contextualized information regarding their rights (empowerment of citizens / building of social capital) Sets and frame the agenda around relevant issues in a pluralistic manner (Agenda-setting theory) Exerts social control over government officials and public policies (the watchdog role) ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

13. The Media System Government (regulatory framework) Media groups (serious CSR policies - including journalism) Journalists Universities and other training institutions Journalistic unions, associations, federations Sources of information Educational system (media literacy) Alternative media (community radios, blogs, etc) Citizens Media Accountability Systems (M.A.S.) ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

14. Media Accountability Systems (M.A.S.)* Civil Society Organizations + Academic Institutions whose mission is to improve the accountability, responsiveness and capabilities of the media If the media are to contribute to governance, they must be subject to similar checks and balances as those that constitute the division of powers in the state * Claude-Jean Bertrand, Professor Emeritus at the French Press Institute (University of Paris 2). An Arsenal for Democracy: Media Accountability Systems, 2003. ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

15. Media Accountability Systems (M.A.S.) Monitor editorial content on a regular basis Provide critical overview of the coverage Develop methodologies that raise the awareness of the public, of journalists and of media companies Watch media structural problems ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

16. ANDI’s case ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights ANDI Brazil Network ANDI Latin America Network ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

17. ANDI - Three Strategic Pillars Mobilization To articulate journalists, media outlets, news sources, journalism students and other social actors in order to mainstream children’s and adolescents’ rights in the media Media Monitoring To collect, archive, and classify the editorial content concerning children published by large set of Brazilian and Latin American newspapers, magazines, and, more recently, TV newscasts Capacity Building & Editorial Analysis To analyze quantitatively and qualitatively the stories collected and based on the results to provide journalists, news sources, and journalism students with tools and opportunities to enhance their skills and develop new ones ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

18. ANDI as a Social Technology Social Technology A concept used in Brazil and other Latin American countries to identify a set of tested, structured and replicable methodologies that can be adapted and applied in other geographical and/or social contexts. ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

19. ANDI Brazil Network - 2000 Amazonas Bahia Ceará Distrito Federal Maranhão Mato Grosso do Sul Minas Gerais Paraná Pernambuco Rio Grande do Norte Sergipe 11 STATES ANDI – Agência de Notícias dos Direitos da Infância

20. ANDI Latin America Network - 2003 Argentina Brazil Bolivia Colombia Costa Rica Ecuador Guatemala México Nicaragua Paraguay Peru Uruguay Venezuela 13 COUNTRIES ANDI – Agência de Notícias dos Direitos da Infância

21. Mobilization Permanent help desk: one-on-one assistance for journalists Daily news summaries to more than 1,500 journalists countrywide Monthly bulletins of in-depth suggestions for news coverage Child-Friendly Journalist Project: recognition of media professionals (346 so far, from all over the country) who champion issues related to children’s rights Tim LopesAward for Investigative Journalism Projects on Sexual Violence Against Children and Adolescents Online Information Sources Directory (3,500 entries) ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

22. Mobilization Independent Survey – Child-Friendly Journalist Project 38% are influential professionals from the media: editors or newsroom chiefs 97,54% agree that the Project improved quality of coverage 97% agree that the initiative has influenced media editors and owners to devote more space to children’s issues 85% frequently use the Direto ao Assunto (news themes suggestion bulletin) as a source for their stories *Independent Evaluation of the Child-Friendly Project, conducted by John Snow Brazil - 2004. ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

23. Mobilization “If any child is out of school, any youngster has no access to professional training, and if a boy carries a hoe instead of a pencil in order to help his family have something to eat, it is a responsibility of the media to portray this reality and ask whether it is what we want as a society. The answer will be given by each citizen. But it is us, journalists, who have to tell this story.” * * Luciana Constantino, reporter, Folha de S.Paulo (Brazil) Child-friendly Journalist ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

24. Media Monitoring • Daily press clipping and classification: 55 newspapers (from 1996 on) • Daily clipping and classification of 5 TV newscasts (from 2006 on) • Monitoring process focusing, among other aspects: • Main Social Issues - Sources of information • Public policies - Legislation • Statistics - Gender, disabilities, ethnicity • Reports presenting the findings of the research • Ranking portraying the performance of newspapers, based on 18 variables ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

25. Media Monitoring • Increase in Coverage – Children and Adolescents Issues • ANDI Brazil + Network (1996 - 2004) ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

26. Media Monitoring Most Covered Topics – Newspapers and Magazines (1996-2005) ANDI Brazil + Network (1996 - 2004) ANDI – News Agency for Children’s Rights

27. Editorial Analysis and Capacity Building • In depth Thematic Media Analysis + Publications portraying the findings • Historical background and theoretical information regarding the issue at hand • Interviews with and articles by experts and journalists • A directory of information sources • A comprehensive section with tips on how to improve the coverage of this topics • Focus on other social and environmental topics (CSR, Poverty, Public Policies on Communication, Social Technologies, Climate Change) ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

28. Editorial Analysis and Capacity Building Books, reports and other publications ANDI – News Agency for Children’s Rights

29. Editorial Analysis and Capacity Building • Capacity Building • Seminars to debate the most important aspects revealed by the studies • Interactive format applied to these meetings encourages journalists and news sources to strengthen the ties among themselves • Half-day or one-day workshops, held in the newsrooms premises, designed to provide intensive training on specific subjects • E-learning courses will soon be offered (First one: coverage of public expenditure and associated issues) ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

30. Editorial Analysis and Capacity Building • Academic Interface (Journalism Courses) • Development, in partnership with universities, of elective courses on social policies • Scholarship Program for final Under-graduate dissertations • Awards granted to final Under-graduate dissertations, Master’s dissertations and Doctoral theses that excel in explaining the links between communication, journalism, and development • National seminars comprising communication researchers who focus on social issues ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

31. ANDI as a M.A.S. ANDI struck me as being an original M.A.S., a remarkable “media accountability system”. What I call an M.A.S. is any non governmental, non-state, means of inducing newspeople to be “ethical”, in other words, to serve the people well. (…) ANDI is an efficient and very original one. That kind of M.A.S. should exist in every country. Claude-Jean Bertrand. Facing the Challenge – Children’s rights and human development in Latin American news media, 2006. ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

32. Strengthening the watchdog role *SOURCE: ANDI ANDI – News Agency for Children’s Rights

33. Strengthening the watchdog role *SOURCE: ANDI ANDI – News Agency for Children’s Rights

34. , Strengthening the watchdog role *SOURCE: ANDI ANDI – News Agency for Children’s Rights

35. Strengthening the watchdog role • In-depth analysis of the coverage of Sexual Violence ANDI Brazil + Network Coverage of Violence in general vs. Sexual Violence* • *Source: Relatório Infância na Mídia 2003/2004 • ** ECA – Brazilian Bill on Children’s Rights ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

36. , Strengthening the watchdog role ANDI: Rights, Childhood and the Public Agenda, 2006 ANDI – News Agency for Children’s Rights

37. , Strengthening the watchdog role ANDI: Rights, Childhood and the Public Agenda, 2006 ANDI – News Agency for Children’s Rights

38. Strengthening the watchdog role • Public Policies - Argentina • In 2004 the Provincial Government of Neuquén presented a draft bill that would have changed the Law on the Full Protection of Children and Adolescents to permit the incarceration of adolescents under 18 • The government dropped the initiative following a barrage of critical news stories and editorials, much of it inspired by background information and analysis provided by the local ANDI NGO ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

39. Strengthening the watchdog role • Public Policies - Brazil “Government Cuts Funding for Children and Adolescents at Risk by 30%” ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

40. Strengthening the watchdog role • Public Policies - Brazil “Lula Cuts Funds to Combat Child Labor by 80%” ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

41. Strengthening the watchdog role • Public Policies - Brazil “Government Reinstates Funding to Combat Child Labor” ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

42. The Climate Change coverage • 50 Brazilian newspapers • 24 months (July 2005 – June 2007) • Composite month methodology (62 days) Good news… The coverage presents an impressive level of contextualization: • 40% display statistics • 36% cite legislation • 32% contain scientific data • 24% made references to public policies ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

43. The Climate Change coverage And bad… • Less than10% of the texts presented divergent opinions • In just 3% of the stories the government is pressed to respond or identified as accountable for violations of rights concerning the issue at hand • Only 15% of the material establish relations between climate change and the development agenda (or model) “When you warn people about the dangers of climate change, they call you a saint. When you explain what needs to be done to stop it, they call you a communist.” George Monbiot, The Guardian (Dec 4, 2007) ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

44. What lies ahead • Mapping and supporting the strengthening of M.A.S. in Latin America (institutions which work for the improvement of the media system) • Stimulating improvement of media regulatory frameworks • Stimulating improvements in the corporate governance status of media firms • Fostering increase in quantity and quality of the coverage of social public policies • Developing specific indicators on media, democracy and development ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

45. Partners - Latin America Network Sponsor ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

46. Other Partners • ANDI and ANDI Brazil Network • - Ford Foundation • - W. K. Kellogg Foundation • - World Childhood Foundation • International Labor Organization (ILO) • Conselho Nacional dos Direitos da Criança e do Adolescente (Conanda) • Subsecretaria Especial dos Direitos Humanos da Presidência da República • - Ministério da Educação • Ministério da Saúde • - Fundação Banco do Brasil • Instituto C&A • Instituto Alana ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights

47. Thank you! www.andi.org.br andi@andi.org.br (+5561) 2102-6508 ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights