For immediate release: Monday 15 June 2009

The Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) today publishes its review of the representation of children’s rights and children’s equality in the national print media.

In an audit of ten tabloid and broadsheet newspapers over a six month period, CRAE found that articles about children’s rights and equality made up only 1.8% of all articles about children. Sensationalist stories about children as victims were most likely to dominate news coverage of children.  

Sam Dimmock, CRAE’s head of policy, said of the findings:

‘The portrayal of children and young people in the British media has been a subject of concern for many in the children’s sector and the Government for several years. While it is encouraging that children are very much present in our newspaper coverage, and the challenges facing them are often articulately covered, children are far too often presented in a distorted fashion, either as “victim” or “high achiever”. Children’s human rights and children’s equality rarely appear on the editorial agenda. This is a situation that must change, and we call upon the Government and the media to take positive action to address this.’

The report is part of a project funded by the Equality and Human Rights Commission to look at how to promote positive messages about children’s rights and equality in the media.

Contact details

Sam Dimmock, head of policy, T: 020 7278 8222 ext. 23, E: sdimmock@crae.org.uk

Notes for editors

1. The Children's Rights Alliance for England is a coalition of over 270 organisations and individuals seeking the full implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in England. Our vision is of a society where the human rights of all children are recognised and realised.

2. This newspaper review was carried out by CRAE’s policy and public affairs team in 2008, and considered articles carried about children in ten national newspapers between 1 October 2007 to 31 March 2008 (in all weekday editions for the first week of each month during this six month period).

3. In its 2008 recommendations to the Government on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in the UK, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child referred explicitly to the role the media has in creating an ‘intolerance and inappropriate characterisation’ of children in UK society, and urged the Government to take urgent measures to address this.

4. The Equality and Human Rights Commission aims to reduce inequality, eliminate discrimination, strengthen good relations between people, and promote and protect human rights. The EHRC has funded CRAE’s work on promoting positive messages about children’s human rights and equality in the media. http://www.equalityhumanrights.com

5. Children’s rights and equality in the newspapers can be downloaded from http://www.crae.org.uk.