Junior reporters in the world

Sharing the common aim of communication

Damon Weaver, 11, a sixth grader at K.E.C. Canal Point Elementary School in the U.S. state of Florida, conducted a one-on-one interview with President Obama in the White House this past August. Damon is a reporter for the school's TV program called "K.E.C. TV News." Via email, we sought his impressions of the interview. In the 10-minute interview, he asked the president about issues involving education, including how the government can help children in low-income communities obtain healthy meals for their school lunch.

Damon Weaver (right) asks President Obama about improving school lunches.

President Obama first explained in some detail about the current state of U.S. education, then he talked about the importance of training teachers and providing nutritious and well-balanced school lunches. "The president answered my questions clearly," Damon recalled. "He shook my hand firmly."

In the video of the interview, Damon sits calmly and appears to enjoy asking questions to the president. We were impressed that he could ask effective follow-up questions based on the president's answers.

Damon has been a reporter at the school since 2008 and he has interviewed 55 celebrities, such as Vice President Joe Biden, Hollywood stars and athletes. His interview with the president took eight months of effort to realize and it appeared on TV programs and video-sharing websites.

Damon has also reported on crime in his local community. "Raising people's awareness is a reporter's job," he told us. "I made that report to help make my community more peaceful."

"K.E.C. TV News" is made up of 24 fifth and sixth grade students. It began as an extracurricular activity 11 years ago and now has a broadcast each morning. Teachers help with preparing the interviews, but the students take charge of the videotaping and creating the reports.

For good reporting, Damon says that it's important to do your best without giving up and research the person well before an interview. He told us that he wants to interview an American football player and an astronaut, as well as report on crime in other cities in the United States.(Seira Furukawa, 16 and Chisa Nishida, 15)

In Norway, there are children involved in covering the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony held in Oslo every December. They are students of Amot ungdoms Junior High School which is located in Rena in the eastern part of the country. Twenty students, aged 13 to 16, are engaged as junior reporters. We sent e-mail to George Sekkelsten, 15, who joined the activity in 2007.

A student reporter (left) asks a question to actress Sharon Stone, who attended the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony.

The coverage of the award ceremony has been carried out since 2001. Students receive official press cards from the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs and attend the ceremony and press conference. George attended the press conference of the Peace Prize laureate last year along with adult journalists.

The Peace Prize laureate of 2008 was Martti Ahtisaari, the former president of Finland, and George was thrilled to have the chance to ask him a question. "I was excited about asking a question at the press conference, which draws media from all over the world," he said.

This activity was initiated by school teachers who wanted students to know more about the Nobel Peace Prize. The student reporters are involved in preparations from October, when the laureate is chosen, to December, when the award ceremony is held. With the support of their teachers, they consider who they should interview and what questions they will ask. After their reports are completed, the teachers review them.

These reports can be viewed on their website and on video-sharing websites.

George says that it's important to prepare well in order to write effective articles. If you don't know enough about the subject that the person you're interviewing is talking about, it's difficult to conduct a successful interview.

I understood his feelings, as I've had this experience, too. I was also impressed by the courage of these young reporters carrying out their activity among adults. It's a shame, really, that they only cover the award ceremony for the Nobel Peace Prize. (Shiori Kosaka,13)

A news agency in Bangladesh called Shishu Prokash works for children's rights and counts 640 members under the age of 18. We sent email to Ummey Honey Shurovi, 14, who has been involved in the group's efforts in Dhaka since last June.

Ummey joined the organization's work to help raise awareness of the fact that there are many children around her whose rights are being abused. So far, she has reported on child labor and the new education system that will be introduced next year.

For Ummey, the issue of "street children" has left the deepest impression. She interviewed an 11-year-old boy who supports his entire family of four with the income he makes by selling flowers. When she asked him about his dreams, he replied, "I want to buy clothes for my mother." This unexpected answer shocked her and, she said, "changed my view of life."

Shishu Prokash was founded in 2005 by another local NGO in order to promote the notion of children taking part in media activities. Its junior reporters receive training in how to write articles and use equipment like cameras while learning about children's rights.

Each team consists of 10 members who engage in reporting and write articles. They are supported by professional journalists.

The stories they produce can be read on their website and sometimes appear on TV, radio and newspapers. (Masahiro Mikoshi,16)

Children's Express is a group which consists of 20 junior writers, aged 12-19, who live in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The articles they produce appear on their website and some are included in an English newspaper called "The Japan Times Junior." We interviewed Yuina Misaki, 17, a member of the group and a third-year high school student, via a video link.

A junior writer from Peace Seeds interviews a Children's Express reporter through a video link. (Photo by Masahiro Mikoshi,16)

At Children's Express, any member can advance a story to pursue. Through email, they call on other members who are interested in teaming up to cover the story. They decide who they should interview and make the interview requests themselves. Adults provide support in checking their completed articles.

Yuina says reporting on environmental issues when she was a third-year junior high school student left a strong impression on her. Before one interview, she simply assumed that recycling was an important part of protecting the environment. However, she was surprised to find that a researcher held an opposing point of view. "That experience opened my eyes to the idea of differing opinions," she told us.

Yuina's reporting activities also made her think about the accuracy of the information in newspapers and on TV. She developed the ability to judge for herself and, when Japan held a general election in August 2009, she compared the environmental policies of each political party.

For the future, she would like to report again on an issue she has covered once before: English language education in elementary schools. "There are pros and cons to this," she told us, "so I want to study the situation more." (Aoi Otomo,15 and Masaya Obayashi,12)