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Abstract
This article investigates the portrayal of children in Albanian television news and introduces the term “adult gaze” to describe the construction of news items in such a way as to reinforce the perspectives of adults on children. Journalists choose to construct news items related to children by focusing the story around an adult figure, most often a politician, and giving his/her views on the issue being discussed, which points to unequal power relations between children and adults. A monitoring process over a period of three months was carried out for three national television channels. From a total of 4416 news items, 154 items were identified and were subject to further quantitative and qualitative content analyses. Based on our findings, news media portray children in limited roles as objects of emotional appeal, victims or performers. How news media think of and represent children can play a crucial role in shaping our perceptions of them and their positioning in society.
Notes
3. These terms are used by different UN agencies to address the level of economic development of countries.
4. ANDI is the Portuguese acronym standing for: Agência de Notícias dos Direitos da Infância (ANDI).
5. Categories included: children of ethnic/language minorities; children with disabilities; children without parental care (in institutions or not); children in street situations; children living in extreme poverty; children isolated in blood feuds; and children in contact with the law.
6. This category was added when re-organising data in order to make the analysis more explicit, as our monitoring period coincided with important holidays, such as Albania’s Independence Day, Christmas and the New Year’s celebrations.
7. In television channels that were monitored, in total, there were 11 journalists who covered politics and only 4 who covered the section for social issues.
8. “Rama: Caring for them until they can ‘face life’ themselves,” 24 November 2014, Top Channel.
9. “Gjeniu i vogel [Little Genius],” TV Klan.
10. Refers to news items where children are featured in performances like dancing, reciting and fashion parades.
11. Refers to news items where children are featured as beneficiaries of actions undertaken by other people, the government, political actors, celebrities or charity initiatives.
12. Images of an obese child while playing.
13. The camera focuses on twin boys around two years old, each of them wearing half a flag on his shirt, and they are put together in such a way as to create the whole flag.
14. Top Channel, 03 December; TV Klan, 03 December; Top Channel, 04 December; TVSH, 03 December; and TVSH, 04 December.
15. We consider children central to the story if the issue is directly linked to children as main subjects and this is emphasised in the news item and/or if a child or group of children presents their own views on it.
16. This news item describes the celebrations on the Independence Day of Albania (28 November) and was part of the main news edition in the public broadcaster, TVSH.
17. Short for vox populi: an interview in which an average person is asked for his or her opinion on a matter of general interest.