ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the relationship between children and the news. It is argued that it has become something of a truism that children regard the news as “boring.” Thus, no matter where they live in the world, researchers find children increasingly refuse to read newspapers, tune into television or radio news, or search out news online. What news they encounter (particularly teens), largely via social media, is widely regarded, even by many young people themselves, as unreliable, untrustworthy, and “fake.” The term “boring” is ideologically loaded with assumptions about children's civic apathy and runs the risk of becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. If adult news is “boring,” argues Carter, it is because it represents a world of grown-ups doing incomprehensible things, where children's interests and opinions are rarely regarded as noteworthy or valuable, and thus largely absent. When news is produced with children's civic development in mind, it has the potential to enable them as citizens and empower them to develop an ongoing interest in the world. This chapter assesses the contributions of research investigating issues associated with the role of news for adults and children in facilitating or hindering children's development and participation in civic life.
