Lost space: ‘There’s been a decline in media work’

Trainers from DW present educational programmes as examples.

LAHORE: The Little Art organised its second roundtable discussion regarding the importance of content for children in the media on Tuesday.

The initiative has been taken to motivate media professionals to produce more content geared towards children. Playwright Asghar Nadeem Syed, shared his experience at the discussion. He said there had been a general decline in the media in terms of conscientious work. Syed said this showed a lack of understanding of literature and the art of story telling. He said children were the main losers. He said it was an arduous task to produce content for them. Syed said writing for children had always been regarded as an onerous task.

He also analysed children’s shows of the past including Akkar Bakkar and Such Gup. Syed said the shows had enjoyed a cult following among children and adults alike as they had high production values and were aesthetically pleasing. He said morning shows should be used as a platform to broadcast child-friendly content. Syed said Mustansar Hussain Tarar’s morning show was an example of this. The programme was aired between 7am and 9am in the morning. Tarar had created a character called chacha ji for the programme who used to exhort children to rise early and get ready for school on time.

Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany’s international broadcaster, is also collaborating with The Little Art in its effort to train media professionals in producing exclusive content for children by organising training workshops. Can Mansuroglu and Imke Hansen, trainers from the DW, presented educational programmes produced by their company in Germany. The programmes were presented as a primer on how to captivate children and enable them to learn by using a fun and colourful format.

The broadcaster has also made a seminal contribution in creating Yallah Nehnah, a low-budget production for children targeting the Syrian audience that is broadcast from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Mansuroglu stressed the importance of focusing on presentation with regard to producing content for children. The Little Art has taken the initiative to create a network of like-minded media professionals interested in producing child-friendly content. The trainers from the DW will collaborate with the organisation to provide individuals and organisations interested in participating with training and support.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2014.