Timeshift
Series 2
Episode 2: Children's News
40 minutes
Film which charts the development of children's television news from the children's newsreels of the 1950s - when golden hamsters and how to make a cricket bat were considered the burning issues of the day - to today's hard-hitting, no-holds-barred programmes aimed at a current generation far more media-savvy than their parents.
It explores the significance of children's programmes in developing the worldview of the decision-makers of tomorrow and questions why, in an age of fierce multi-channel competition for the child viewer, news is the one genre of television output conspicuously absent from every channel except the BBC.
It tells the story of how the 'daddy' of children's news, John Craven, first got Newsround on the air, whilst Michael Buerk remembers how the reports he filed for Newsround were among his toughest assignments. Contributors include John Craven, Jon Snow, Lizo Mzimba, Roy Milani (head of BBC Children's News), Steve Hocking (editor, Blue Peter) and Nicky Parkinson (head of Nickelodeon UK). Show less