Journalism targeting children, teens explains Middle East conflict in age-appropriate ways
Ideas Blog | 06 November 2023
When Hamas attacked Israel, Katrin Fischer, editor of Austria’s weekly Kleine Kinderzeitung, knew teachers would need help facing students’ questions. She and her team used a journalism designed to inform — but not terrify — that young audience.
The resulting online coverage had three parts, each written for children:
It got a record 62,000 pageviews.
“Those numbers amazed everyone,” Fischer said. “Our articles were shared by numerous experts: learning platforms, schools, parenting guides. This reaction confirms that in times like these, experienced children’s news media is an essential, trusted source.”
Her approach shares a specific journalistic DNA with other editors of news for children that stands out in a crisis and can give ideas to those who report news for adults. Producers of quality news for children must:
- Cover challenging stories with care.
- Provide context.
- Gather questions.
- Highlight solutions and helpers.
- Provide mental health tools.
Covering bad news
François Dufour, who has edited newspapers for children for nearly 30 years at France’s PlayBac Presse, once said: “Kids don’t live on Mars.” That means editors don’t shy away from harrowing stories: “No subject is taboo, but it has to have an angle of interest to kids.”
First News editor Nicky Cox said a child might know about a big, frightening story even if they don’t talk about it. But that doesn’t mean all news is appropriate for children.
“We don’t aim to inform them about every tragedy in the world,” said Simon Hjortkjær, editor of JP/Politiken’s weekly Børneavisen in Denmark. “But we certainly want to help them understand if they have already heard about this in mainstream news sources, on social media, or elsewhere.”
Questions and context
Both veteran and newer players focus on questions from their audiences to guide coverage. French outlets have done this consistently:
- The bi-monthly Astrapi bi-monthly magazine from Bayard Jeunesse first reported the basics, then repeated a strategy it started in 2019: It asked a class of 9-year-olds what they wanted to know about the attack for the weekly Salut l’Info podcast it broadcasts with the national radio service France Info.
- France’s weekly print and online Journal des Enfants used questions to organise freely available coverage.
- PlayBac Presse consults panels of young readers to create three age-specific, home-delivered daily newspapers. “Five questions and answers” was the headline for the reports with free downloads of Mon Quotidien (ages 10-13) and l’Actu ages 14-20).

Børneavisen’s app lets Danish children send questions and comments directly to the staff. That provided an idea of what children had already seen on social media and wanted to know about the attack. The questions resulted in a two-page spread of answers from Middle East expert Sune Haugbølle.
Providing context is sometimes challenging.
“Our approach remains factual, keeping emotion at bay, but we have been extremely careful in our writing and choice of words, much more so than for [the Russian attack on] Ukraine, where the weight of ideologies was not as strong,” explained Caroline Gaertner, editorial director at France’s Journal des Enfants.
Lamia Rassi, general manager at Lebanon’s Planet News Business, said, “It felt essential [on our French Yomyom forum and news site for teenagers] to retell the history from the beginning to provide the necessary context behind this conflict for a better understanding.”
Anna Bassi of The Week Junior in Britain said, “We’ve kept it simple, and we’ve avoided graphic details or imagery.” The magazine’s cover was a statement from the UK-based nonprofit Save the Children about children’s right to live in peace and without fear.

“I felt it was almost impossible to use a photo or image that would be completely free of bias or perceived bias,” Bassi said.
With such divided opinions amongst adults, Fanny Fröman, editor of Finland’s Lasten uutiset (Children’s News) at Helsingin Sanomat, said, “Whatever we write, someone will be upset about it.” Their solution: a map showing the main historical background of the region.

Safeguarding mental health
Editors also aim to help protect children’s mental health and help them take action.
A child psychologist vets all stories for News-O-matic, a U.S.-based daily news service owned by France’s Bayard Jeunesse that publishes stories for children in English, French, and three other languages. Since launching in 2012, it has given children strategies to deal with upsetting news, including sending in a drawing.

Canada’s CBC Kids News gave warnings at the start and end of its first story about the conflict, advising children to read it with an adult. It provided a video they could watch about coping with traumatic news and gave a link to a counselling hotline for children. A later story focused on how children coped with shocking visuals.
The Week Junior alerted British parents online and gave advice alongside coverage for children intended to be read with an adult.
Such advice elements are part of the solutions or constructive journalism that comes naturally to these editors: covering the problem and giving readers hope through exploring possible solutions.
“As soon as possible, we try to focus on solutions. In this instance, we needed to explain the complex background first,” said Børneavisen’s Hjortkjaer. “We will most likely follow it up with stories about how different groups are trying to help civilians or broker peace.”
CBC Kids News reported on the UN’s work for Palestinian refugees. The United Kingdom’s First News spotlighted a 2022 “Kidversation” from partner FYI Sky Kids News about the experiences and hopes for peace of a Palestinian boy and Israeli girl.

Inspiring action
Then came ideas for action. Austria’s Kleine Kinderzeitung invited readers to make paper flowers for peace. Slovenia’s Časoris free online news outlet (also in English) allows children to create journalism with coaching from an editor and publishes it in the main news product.
The current plan is to interview Slovenian children of Palestinian and Jewish descent to augment what it has already reported in video, audio, and text of the initial attack and Israel’s response. It will also provide advice for talking with children about war, terrorism, and tragedies.
“Our readers like to see stories by other children. Our child reporters like to do it because they believe it is important for their peers to learn how other children live and to think about the world they live in,” said Editor Sonja Merljak Zdovc. “This way, they also learn that journalism is not easy and what journalists do matters to the community.”
A full version of this report is available at Global Youth & News Media.