One I Plan To Write Later

If this blog has been useful for anything yet, it has crystalised what I want to write my dissertation on.

For those of you new to my blog, I'm a 24 year old MA Broadcast Journalism student at the University of Westminster, and eventually, I hope to pursue a career in children's media.

At present I volunteer at four radio stations, including presenting the children's request at a Hospital Radio Station. Eventually I'm hoping to have my own two hour children's show on one of the hospital radio stations that I work on, but for the moment I'm content just visiting wards, chatting to the kids, and playing their requests.


Anyway, the eventual plan is to pursue a career at CBBC. Despite the recent bashing shows such as Blue Peter have received in the press recently, I'm a firm believer in the fact that the BBC is, and always has been, the best source of good, clean, homegrown children's media.

In spite of this, I must acknowledge the decline in children's media on the whole in recent years. As a child I used to flick between CBBC and CITV, hoping to benefit from the best of both channels, however, nowadays it is as if ITV has surrendered to the competition offered by specialist children's channels, and as a result, the proportion of British-made children's media has been dramatically reduced.

I plan to write my dissertation on the decline of children's media - an issue which has recently attracted the attention of both Ofcom and the Voice of Listeners and Viewers.

In order to research my dissertation, I hope to spend the next six months getting as much children's media work experience.

I hope to speak with Susan Stranks and Baroness Warnock, two of the most prolific figures in the campaign for improved children's media, and two ladies who I was lucky enough to speak with at the House of Lords at a Select Committee on the subject when I was just 17,

I will use this blog to document my findings, and explore the state of children's media today, and in the future.

An Introduction To The Blogger

Hello and welcome to 'One I Wrote Earlier'.

My name is Charly Lester, and I'm a whole two days into a MA course in Broadcast Journalism at the University of Westminster.

Like most of my generation I've aspired to becoming a Blue Peter presenter as long as I can remember (suddenly the blog name begins to make sense!).

However it's not just the funky badges and amazing holidays which appeal to me.

Despite having reached the ripe old age of 23, I am still fascinated by children's television, radio, books and magazines.

Furthermore, I find the ever-increasing supply of other media available to children astonishing.

Finally, I think it is important to keep in mind those sources of media accessible by children which are not necessarily targetted towards them as an audience.

I plan to use these pages as a voice-box for my ideas and opinions of children's media.

I like to think I can understand children -

Since the age of 13 I have been a Brownie Leader, and have also helped with Scouts, Beavers, Guides and Rainbows.

At 16 I worked as a Children's Birthday Party Host at a Bowling Alley.

During Sixth form I worked as a Children's Party Entertainer, dressing up each weekend as a fairy/ princess/ astronaut/ cowgirl / pirate, etc etc.

In my Gap Year I taught English to 3-8 year olds in a remote Chinese province.

Finally, since the age of 14 I have worked on local and hospital children's radio stations.

In 1999 I was asked to speak at a House of Lords Select Committee Meeting on the topic of children's media.

I believe that the best way to communicate with children is to talk to them as equals, and to be a honest and open with them as possible.

I also believe children learn best from doing.

I think it is imperative that from an early age children have exposure to, and the opportunity to try, a infinite variety of different activities, challenges and skills.

Finally, as adults I think we're all responsible for the lessons which we inadvertantly teach youngsters, be this through our own behaviour as role models, or as a result of the imagery and information which we enable them to access and digest.

Over the course of this blog I will debate and disect current affairs in the children's media.

I will look at topics and influences of relevance to kids, and seek to find out whether we all look back at the television we watched as children with rose-tinted glasses, or whether the quality of children's media has in fact changed, for better or for worse.