Francois Dufour, France
 
Dufour is the editor of four daily newspapers in France from 5 to 17 year olds.
The important issues and questions to his mind are:
When are you “young”?  A definition is necessary for “the young reader”.
Where are there paid daily newspapers in the world?
Are we talking about a supplement of page in the newspaper, of a newspaper by itself?
Paid versus free is another issue to be debated.
 
 
Robert Barnard, Toronto
 
Toronto-based Robert Barnard is the founder of Youth Media DNA , specializing in youth research, and partnering with WAN in Youth Media DNA.  Youth Media DNA is “decoding youth as news and information consumers”.  He is the current Chairman of Street Kids International, also working in Africa, to start micro-enterprises between 10 and 19.  They have to adopt newspapers by age of 25, else they will never read newspapers.  Further pressing issue is getting young people involved as citizens.
 
A newspaper-reading strategy is not enough; education has to become part of the process.
In America and Northern Europe young people are rejecting institutions such as politics, family values, and church.  The patterns of parents are reinforced in the next generation. e.g. voting.
 
Strategic opportunities so far for youth:

Focus on parents first.  They must have books and newspapers (or reading matter) in the home (even if only during weekends).  This is the pathway to adulthood.

Teachers should be the next resource.

Thereafter you have to employ friends and social networks.  Young people do not sell or buy information; they exchange it for free.

Other consistent hypotheses to be explored, forthcoming from the research:

Time squeeze force multi-tasking, more competition.  They have very busy schedules, which means more competition for more media and technologies.

Youth has been trained from the outset to receive news from multiple sources and technologies.

Age do impact on the type of news and information needs.

Youth prefer compact formats.

Local AND international news and info.

News – the social ingredient desired and required.  Adds to their savvy and relationships.

Youth life-stage is one of exploration and communication, which is optimal for newspapers.
 
The youth content needs are different from adults; about that there is no debate…
But: they do want to be part of the main paper.  They do NOT want to feel “ghettoized”.  They see the value and benefit of being well informed.  They are in a time squeeze; they do want information.
 
 
Jeanne-Emmanuel Gapyses-Hutin, journalist, Quest-France, France.
 
Editor of Readright in France. This is a West-France news-project.
 
Youth initiatives in cooperative projects:
            Young reporters (16 to 25)
            Quest France prize in youth initiatives (15 to 25)
Pioneering cooperative projects
 
Complex newspaper, with 550 journalists, 2600 correspondents, 62 newsrooms.  West-France has always catered for young readers and children between 7 to 10 with a section “Tell me Everything”.
 
This appears every Saturday in the form of a section for teenagers and young adults.  Purpose is to create new connections: educate citizens to be active participants in democracy.  The youth needs orientation, education and direction. They feel that newspapers are too far from them.
 
Cultivate young reporter teams.  These reporters are 16 to 25 years of age – they explore life in their society.  We showcase what they do.  They should enjoy the written press in which they participate.  They are compensated and treated as real reporters, and are published on local initiatives, people who are in jail, who are handicapped or aged.  How can human rights, for example, be protected? Would they like to pursue this job and profession? They are ambassadors under their peer groups.
 
Award for youth initiatives Quest France Prize.  Currently 18 prize-winning projects which are pioneering, such as delivering four ambulances for Burkina Faso.  We hope to show a different side of the youth, in becoming participative society members and responsible adults.  A real democratic paper …  Anyone interested in this project can please contact us.  We hope to help these citizens become better citizens.  However, a comprehensive approach is necessary.
 
Lisa Blakeway, Johannesburg.  Marketing Director of Learning Channel, content provider in South Africa.
 
Sunday Times’s supplement titled ReadRight.
ReadRight is a weekly supplement, driven by Learning Channel.
 
Learning Channel offers inter alia:
 
Daily broadcasts on SABC1; www.learn.co.za
Education supplements in most of SA’s major newspapers, including Sowetan Power your Future, Primary Matters and Matric Matters.
 
Readright is a supplement for both teacher and pupil.  Stories, competitions, craft and assistance with studies …
 
The power-point presentation by Lisa features conversations with teachers and pupils about their experiences with the supplement, what they like and do not like, what it is doing for them, in and out of the classroom.  It is particularly valuable to children with no access to other educational resources.  Teachers believe it is a fantastic invention and intervention.  This supplement is a two-times winner of the Young Reader Awards.
 
The PMP Reading programme:
“Every view counts: My story … Our stories”.
Written by children in each of SA’s nine provinces, representing a range of perspectives.  Every week a different story was published in Readright as a cut-and-paste 8-page part.
 
27 locations across SA were selected for particular significance.  The ReadRight team (a children’s author, an artist and a photographer worked with groups of 12-year olds.  Lisa discussed a case study, titled “The Noise in the Night”, which focuses on the fears and anxiety of children in this area.
 
If you want young people to engage with youth content, it must be generated by young people for young people, and they should receive it when they want it and where they want.  They are no different with adults, they want to respected, they want to know stuff, want to have fun and be entertained, and know what effects things have on them.
 
Hints for how to make connections that engage the youth.  It can be downloaded from the WAN-website.  The delegates and editors should please tell WAN what they are doing, and enter competitions for prizes.  There are competitions pertaining to many and various topics.
WAN had a young reader conference in March.
Go to: www.wan-press.org
YOUNG READER
YOUNG READER CONFERENCE
 
Guidelines for Front-Page Reality Check (see following paragraph) for new generation with Read Right insert on back table for delegates.
 
Roger Dufour: The Front-page reality check for a new generation.
 
1.         Class of 14-year olds.
 
2.         Look at several front pages of about five major covers.
 
3.         Vote for what they would read
 
Create a new front page based on covers that they evaluate.  They thus change the order.
The results will surprise you!
The results (classroom in Paris, where we used five British newspapers, which are the quality newspaper in the UK)
New breast cancer treatment can double life expectancy.
Sub-story: Suspects tried to buy a dirty bomb.
Last story: Girl loses battle to wear Islamic Jihab.