Ukrainian junior journalists promote 'nice television'

Kyiv, February 3 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Television needs to be improved, and this concerns not only Ukrainian television, organizers of a press conference entitled "Children's Media in Ukraine for Friendship or Aggression? Freedom of Speech and Responsibility" hosted by Interfax-Ukraine on Friday have said.

"I'm fighting all the time to start a children's channel with children's programs. Everyone should note that there are not only small children that watch cartoons, which are by the way very primitive - there are also such people as you [junior journalists] that want to watch their news, their TV programs, their films. There are many programs produced in Ukraine, but they are not shown on TV," said director, Birds children's media-studio leader and Open Policy Foundation member Olena Zelenska.

Junior journalists presented their projects during the press conference. One of them is acartoon on the issue of freedom of speech, which will be presented at the ANIMA 2011 international festival in Germany in February.

All of the projects were created within frames of the Open Policy Foundation project with the assistance of the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine. In the cartoon, children express protest against "obtrusive" advertising on the televisions, programs featuring scandals, gossip and crime, and speak in support of educational and "nice" programs.

According to participants of the press conference, today the media damage general human values, instead of strengthening them, and children are especially vulnerable to such "information attacks."

The organizers of the press conference said that media programs should be introduced in the education process, but the authorities do not support such an initiative.