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RESEARCH
21/2008/E
M. Götz, O. Hofmann, H.-B. Brosius, C. Carter, K. Chan, St. H. Donald, J. Fisherkeller, M. Frenette,
T. Kolbjørnsen, D. Lemish, K. Lustyik, D. C. McMillin, J. H. Walma van der Molen, N. Pecora, J. Prinsloo,
M. Pestaj, P. Ramos Rivero, A.-H. Mereilles Reis, F. Saeys †, S. Scherr, H. Zhang
Gender in children’s television
worldwide
Results from a media analysis in 24 countries
In the world’s largest quantitative
media analysis of children’s TV so
far the main characters of fictional
programmes in 24 countries were
coded. The results show a clear un-
der-representation and stereotyped
depiction of female characters
worldwide.
C
hildren’s television provides
kids with stories, with mate-
rial for their fantasy and of-
fers images about the world. In this
process television also gives them an
idea of what it means to be a girl or
boy, a woman and a man. While it is
firstly the daily experiences in their
immediate social environment which
influence their world view, the media
– and in this case particularly the lead-
ing medium television – offer im-
portant additional images and per-
spectives. Children deeply incorpo-
rate these images into their inner pic-
tures, especially where the represen-
tation of gender is concerned (Götz
et al., 2005). But what do these images
of boys/men and girls/women look
like? How is femininity and masculin-
ity being constructed in the media
texts for children?
National media analyses in the United
States and Germany show a clear im-
balance: 3 out of 4 characters are
male (Smith, 2008; Götz, 2006).
While women may no longer be pre-
sented solely as helpless victims,
however, regardless of the role they
take on, they are almost always im-
peccably beautiful and longing for
the love of their life. In addition, fe-
males are hyper-sexualised five times
more often than males (Smith, 2008).
Typical clichés such as the helpless
blonde or the cheeky red-head are re-
iterated over and over again (Götz,
2006). The occasional exceptions are
few and far between: programmes
which make girls and their perspec-
tives the central focus. But even the
super heroines, which at times may
appear very modern, reveal obvious
gender clichés (Baker/Raney, 2007),
or they are characterised by endless
consumption, where life is just a
“passion for fashion” (McAllister,
2007).
These media analyses – each based
on national samples – already give a
strong indication of the existing pat-
terns, yet it remains unanswered
whether these are merely national
tendencies in the USA or Germany.1
Larger comparative studies on an in-
ternational scale, similar perhaps to
the Global Media Monitoring Project
(Gallagher, 2005) in the domain of
news reporting in adults’ media
around the world, are missing. The
study Children’s Television World-
wide: Gender Representation aims to
address this omission. In co-operation
with international colleagues, a sam-
ple of children’s television in 24
countries was collected and analysed.
The research questions of this quan-
titative content analysis as a first step
were:
What characterises the range of
children’s TV programming that
reached kids in the year 2007?
Who are the main characters of the
programmes?
What characterises the integration
of the main characters into the so-
cial context and narrative?
What kinds of differences exist
between male and female charac-
ters, between public and private
channels, and between domestic
and international productions?
We will present a brief summary of
some of the preliminary findings.
Method
In each of the 24 participating coun-
tries a sample of children’s TV pro-
grammes was taped, representing the
most popular programmes and the
diversity of the television pro-
grammes available for children up to
approximately age 12. On average,
between 100 and 200 hours of broad-
casting were recorded in each partic-
ipating country, which represented
the offering of the week as well as
the weekend.2
Due to the limited
range of children’s TV available in
5
RESEARCH
21/2008/E
some countries, the sample collected
for them was smaller. The dates of
recording were May, 2nd, 2007 to
July, 2nd, 20073
and the same code-
book was used in all countries.
The whole sample encompasses
2,367 hours of children’s TV, with
19,664 single programme elements.
More detailed analyses were conduct-
ed with 1,654 hours of fictional pro-
grammes, which came to 6,375 shows
with a total of 26,342 characters, with
a special focus on the 14,959 human
characters encountered therein (see
table 1).
Children’s TV programmes
worldwide: fiction, cartoons,
and bought-in productions
The analysed sample of 9,207 indi-
vidual programmes consisted of
6,375 (69 %) fictional shows, 1,570
(17 %) non-fictional programmes,
and 678 (7 %) mixed formats.
The proportion of non-fiction shows
is significantly higher on public tele-
vision. The main share of these fic-
tional programmes is made up of ani-
mated shows (84 %). Much smaller
was the share of children’s pro-
grammes featuring real human beings
(9 %), mixed formats (5 %), or pup-
pet shows (2 %).
Of the countries surveyed Slovenia
(96.5 %) and China (96.4 %) have the
highest percentage of cartoons in their
TV for children, while Belgium
(54.8 %) and the UK (55 %) have the
lowest.
In regard to the country of produc-
tion, only 23 % of the programmes
are produced or co-produced domes-
tically while 77 % of all fictional pro-
grammes are “bought in”. The USA
(82.7 %) and the UK (67.7 %) are
countries with the highest percentage
of domestic productions in their
children’s television. Kenya (0.7 % of
the programmes are at least not re-
cognisably foreign) and New Zealand
(0.5 %) are the ones with the lowest
percentage.
The biggest export region of chil-
dren’s TV programmes is NorthAme-
rica with 60 % of the worldwide pro-
duction followed by Europe with
27.9 % and Asia with 9.3 %.
To summarise, we can state that
empirically, children’s TV consists
primarily of fictional programmes,
largely cartoons, which are not pro-
duced domestically but are purchas-
yrtnuoC retsacdaorB
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ailartsuA 9lennahC,7lennahC,01lennahC,VTCBA 282 878 615
airtsuA
,LTRrepuS,2LTR,kciN,AK.IK,DRA,1FRO
FDZ
794 021,2 821,1
muigleB MTV,4TV,xueDaL,tenteK,2aK 544 308,1 230,1
lizarB
,noedolekciN,obolG,lennahCyensiD
arutluCVT,TBS,VTedeR,droceR
59 396 804
adanaC
,cQT,nootéléT/nooteleT,CRS,VTC,CBC
VTY,KARV,SQT
741 510,1 906
anihC VTCC,VTB 772 510,1 695
abuC edlebeReleT,nóisivabuC 092 838 342
tpygE
,areezaJlA,2lennahC,1lennahC,trA
nooTecapS,3CBM,nerdlihC&ylimaF
191 498 426
ynamreG FDZ,LTRrepuS,2LTR,kciN,AK.IK,DRA 754 110,2 590,1
gnoKgnoH lraePBVT,edaJBVT,dlroWVTA,emoHVTA 961 744 772
yragnuH
,2M,xiteJ,anuD,krowteNnootraC
2VT,bulKLTR,+A/xaminim,xaminim
182 019 864
aidnI
-teNnootraC,krowteNailartsuA,xaminA
,vte,nahsradrooD,yensiD,anadnahC,krow
,enoratS,ynoS,ogoP,.rJkciN,kciN,vtayaj
adannakeez,ayrus,vtnus,sulpratS
851 778 934
learsI
-lekciN,xiteJ,!poH,6lennahC,nootraC
ababaSseY,noedo
063 140,1 096
ayneK
-eleTCBK,VTylimaF,noisiveleTnezitiC
noitaN,krowteNnoisiveleTayneK,noisiv
krowteNnoisiveleT,noisiveleT
941 187 106
aisyalaM 9VT,2MTR,1MTR,aireCortsA 92 371 621
sdnalrehteN noedolekciN,3dnalredeN,xiteJ 073 744,1 839
weN
dnalaeZ
,noedolekciN,yensiD,krowteNnootraC
2vt,esuohyalP
283 916,1 079
yawroN 2VT,KRN,lennahCyensiD 87 463 512
ainevolS
,3VT,VTPOP,AlanaK,krowteNnootraC
1ajinevolSVT
665 651,2 715,1
acirfAhtuoS CBAS,VTE 402 321,1 028
airyS
,nerdlihC3CBM,nerdlihCareezaJlA
etilletaSnairyS,lennahCVTts1nairyS
lennahC
13 431 48
KU VTIC,seibeeBC,CBBC 062 871,1 885
ASU
yrevocsiD,krowteNnootraC,ylimaFCBA
,snootkciN,noedolekciN,xoF,yensiD,sdiK
-yalP,sdiKlatigiD/SBP,SBP;NehT/niggoN
/WILW,xiteJ,yensiDnooT,yensiDesuoh
,NOI,WC,SBC,WC/XIPW,SBP/TENW,SBP
tuorps,rjkcin,yensiDnooT,CLT,CBN
326 517,2 8721
latoT 573,6 243,62 959,41
Table 1: Participating countries and sample of the study
6
RESEARCH
21/2008/E
ed from abroad, mainly from the US
and Canada.
Heroes in
children’s television
1. Gender of the main characters:
twice as many males as females
We counted the main characters,4
their sex, age, their role and how they
are integrated in their social environ-
ment. The result: Just 32 % of the
26,342 main characters in the fiction-
al programmes are female, while
68 % are male (see fig. 1).
Norway (42 %/58 %), Syria (39 %/
61 %), the UK (38 %/62 %), and Is-
rael (37 %/63 %) broadcast children’s
television with the highest percent-
age of female characters. Argentina
(19 %/81 %), Cuba (20 %/80 %), and
Malaysia (23 %/77 %) show the low-
est percentage of female leads in their
children’s TV programmes.
In animation programmes the propor-
tion of female to male main charac-
ters was 31 % to 69 %, which is low-
er than in the real-life formats (40 %
females to 60 % males). The percent-
age of female leads is slightly higher
in domestic productions than in im-
ported ones. Overall, private broad-
casters have a gender proportion of
33 % to 67 %, which is a better ratio
compared to what the public and state
broadcasters pro-
vide (31 %/69 %).
This is a remark-
able result, since
public broadcasters
– with their public
mandate – have the
responsibility for
representing the
reality in a balanced
way. The reality of
human life is 51 %
female to 49 %
male, which could
not be found in
children’s TV any-
where!
This gender im-
balance translates to other aspects of
children’s television: In most of the
fiction shows (76 %) no dominant
voice-over is used. But if there is a
narrator, it is more than twice as of-
ten a male voice (15 %) than a female
voice (6 %).
To emphasise the result: There is a
clear gender imbalance all over the
world, in public and private tele-
vision, in international and domestic
programmes, in animated and real-
life formats.
In the next step we coded which type
of being the main character is and if
this means anything to gender equal-
ity. The results show that more than
half of all main characters are por-
trayed as humans (59 %) and 1 out
of 4 is an animal. This is complement-
ed by a few monsters, mythical crea-
tures, plants, objects and robots or
machines.
From a gender perspective the ratio
of female to male human characters
is the one least biased (37 % to 63 %).
Female characters are even more no-
ticeably underrepresented as animals
(25 %/75 %), monsters (21 %/79 %),
robots (16 %/84 %), and other fiction-
al beings (13 %/87 %) (see fig. 2).
This is particularly astonishing, since
in such cases the biological sex of a
character is purely constructed.Wheth-
er an animal or a monster is a “he” or
a “she” is entirely arbitrary. Yet we
can discern that the protagonists of
children’s television are much more
frequently constructed as male than
female. It seems that the greater the
degree of creative freedom, the more
the gender ratio is biased towards
male characters.
2. Social relationships:
females in groups and
males as loners and antagonists
More than half of the main charac-
ters in children’s television are pre-
sented initially in groups or teams
(57 %), whereas 1 out of 5 appears
as “loner” or as part of a team of two.
Female characters appear significant-
ly more often in groups than do male
characters (60 %/54 %) and are pre-
sented less often as loners (18 %/
22 %). Brazil is the country with the
most loner characters (69 %); the
countries showing many programmes
revolving around teams are China
(76 %) and the USA (75 %).
Regarding hierarchical relationships,
nearly half of the characters appear
more or less as equals in the story. 1
out of 5 represents a leader, and 16 %
are followers of somebody else. Fe-
male characters are more frequently
shown as equals (plus 7 %), and they
are less often represented as leaders
or followers.
A great proportion of main charac-
ters are wholesome characters; only
14 % are presented
as obvious villains.
Countries with a par-
ticularly large share
of antagonists are
the UK (29 %) and
Australia (27 %);
countries in which
these characters ap-
pear much less often
are Israel (5 %) and
Belgium (6 %).
Only in 10 % of the
shows women are
presented as an-
tagonists; compared
to 15 % of all male
characters.Fig. 1: Sex of the main characters in fictional programmes
7
RESEARCH
21/2008/E
What male and female
characters look like
1. Skin colour of main characters:
the dominant skin colour is white
Another focus of our research was on
the external appearance of the human
main characters. With regard to their
skin colour a very clear tendency was
brought to light: the majority, with
10,764 characters (72 %), were cod-
ed as Caucasian. 1,739 (12 %) of the
human characters in the sample pre-
sent Asian physical traits. We found
961 (6 %) black characters, 383 (3 %)
were classified as Latina/Latino, and
249 (2 %) as South-(East)-Asian. The
proportion of Caucasian protagonists
is larger in the bought-in programmes
than in the domestic productions.
The countries showing programmes
with the highest percentage of black
characters are the UK (15 %) and the
USA (12 %). Malaysia or Hong Kong
did not have any black characters –
at least none appeared in the sample.
Countries with the highest percent-
age of white characters were Cuba
(92 %), Argentina (90 %) followed
by Belgium, Slovenia and South Af-
rica (!). It is remarkable, that South
Africa is one of the nations with the
“whitest children’s television” with
81 % Caucasian main characters, al-
though in reality only 9 % of the pop-
ulation of that country are white (Sta-
tistics South Africa 2007).5
Female characters more often have a
skin colour other than Caucasian-
white. Women are significantly more
often represented asAsians,Africans,
or Latinas. China and Hong Kong
broadcast programmes with a high
percentage ofAsian girls and women.
However, few Asian girls can be
found in children’s TV programmes
in the UK or in Australia (both 2 %).
More remarkable even than this is the
finding that Kenya has a higher per-
centage of Asian female characters
represented in its programmes for
kids than black Africans (16 %/
11 %). In South Africa the propor-
tion is at least balanced on a low lev-
el, with 12 % to 12 %, yet again these
percentages are far from representing
the real distribution of skin colours
in that country.
2. Hair colour of main characters:
girls and women are more often
blonde and red-haired
Black, brown, and blonde are the
main hair colours of principal char-
acters in children’s TV. Female char-
acters are significantly more often
blonde and red-haired. The country
with the highest percentage of
blonde-haired girls is Australia
(32 %), followed by the UK (30 %)
and Syria (28 %!).
The country with the highest percent-
age of red-haired girls is Slovenia
(27 %), followed by New Zealand,
the German-speaking countries Ger-
many and Austria, and Canada (all
22 %). While in Slovenia and Cana-
da red hair is a common hair colour
for both sexes, in Germany’s broad-
casts only girls are presented with red
hair. In reality, only 1 in 100 women
in Germany is naturally red-haired.6
Interestingly, the UK, with only 4 %
of the female main characters having
red hair, ranks at 22nd
place.
3. Protagonists’ age: babies and
the elderly are nearly absent
In terms of age the leading characters
are mainly children, teenagers, and
adults. Only rarely they are babies/
toddlers (2 %) or elderly (4 %). The
countries with the highest percentage
of children in their children’s TV are
Malaysia (64 %) and China (53 %),
while none or just a few children ap-
pear in the programmes broadcast in
Argentina, Hungary and Brazil.
The countries with the highest per-
centage of elderly people in the sam-
ple areArgentina (12 %) and Norway
(9 %), while in New Zealand, the
USA, and Hong Kong older people
do not play an important role in
children’s TV(all under 2 %) – which
is quite different from what children
experience in their real lives, where
grandparents often play a very im-
portant role.
Adolescent girls are
more common than
adolescent boys
The female characters are significant-
ly more often teenage (37 % vs. 25 %
of the male characters) while a high-
er percentage of male characters are
adults. The country with the highest
percentage of teenage girls is Hunga-
ry (67 %), followed by the Nether-
lands (62 %).
4. Main characters’ physique:
skinny girls and overweight boys
Most main characters are presented
in TV broadcasts with a physique in
a range that can be described as with-Fig. 2: Type of main character
Source: IZI – Children’s Television Worldwide 2007, basis: all countries, 6,375 fict. programmes, n = 26,342 main characters
8
RESEARCH
21/2008/E
in the normal range of TV reality.
However, 9 % of characters are very
thin, and 7 % very overweight. The
share of particularly skinny charac-
ters is especially high in internatio-
nal productions.
The gender-related findings are quite
unambiguous: with 15 %, female
characters are presented as very thin
more than twice as often as their male
counterparts (6 %). The country with
the highest percentage of very thin
girls isAustralia (45 %), followed by
the UK (37 %). In Hong Kong and
Israel (under 1 %) female characters
were rarely coded as “very thin”.
Obese girls or women appear scarce-
ly at all in the entire sample. In the
samples no overweight characters
could be found in: Norway, Argenti-
na, South Africa, and Hong Kong. In
all likelihood, this does not corre-
spond to reality.
Male characters are twice
as frequently overweight
as girl characters
Male characters are twice as frequently
overweight as girl characters. The
country with the highest percentage of
overweight boys is Kenya (19 %), fol-
lowed by Argentina (17 %).
To summarise:
Human characters presented on
children’s TV are typically Cau-
casian (75 % of cases), and rarely
very young or elderly.
Girls turn out to be very thin more
often, tend to be teenage charac-
ters more frequently, presented as
blonde or red-haired more com-
monly, and more likely to be pre-
sented as Asian or African than
their male counterparts.
Boys, however, appear as white
even more often, and they are pre-
sented as overweight to a higher
percentage.
Disabilities and chronic diseases
are virtually absent from children’s
TV.
Frequently appearing
stereotypes
In applying statistical analyses, cer-
tain combinations of features can be
shown to be particularly common,
such as the examples presented be-
low. They may illustrate some of the
stereotyped depictions that should be
avoided in children’s TV:
What bad boys and girls look like
The female antagonists in children’s
TV are for the most part loners and
leaders, who call the shots for others.
Relatively often they are blonde and
disproportionately often teenagers.
Here the stereotype of the “blonde
bitch” is reinforced again and again.
Male antagonists, on the other hand,
tend to be black or brown-haired
adults, but virtually never blonde.
They, too, are loners who call the
shots; rarely are they ever members
of teams, yet they are comparatively
often disabled. Stereotypes of bad
older dark-haired men with a dis-
ability are enforced.
What leaders and followers
look like
Leaders in children’s TV worldwide
are over-represented as white. The
idea of a “leading race” which is de-
finitely not appropriate could shape
the inner pictures of children.
Female leaders are particularly often
red or black-haired, while male lead-
ers are rarely blonde. Female follow-
ers are twice as often black-haired
than in the normal population, and
male followers are especially often
blonde and overweight. Here, too,
stereotypes of the little fatty blonde
boy or the cheeky red-haired are told
again and again.
Social status of Blacks, Latinos/
Latinas, and Asians
Overall, black characters are distinct-
ly more often part of a team. This
holds for female characters as well,
but particularly for male blacks, who
then are also equal to one another
within the team. A stereotype of
groups of black males who enjoy
equality among themselves but are
scary for society may be reinforced
this way.
Latinos are often presented as leaders
and loners and not so often as equals.
Latinas appear disproportionately of-
ten as part of a duo. Here the danger
of reinforcing the stereotypes of La-
tino machos and Latinas with their
one and only best girl friend are re-
inforced.
FemaleAsians are significantly often
members of a group, while male
Asians tend to be presented as a pair
on children’s TV. The notion of
Asians as less individual than e. g
Caucasians is presented in this way.
Conclusion – Gender
in children’s TV worldwide
This analysis brings to light striking-
ly prominent tendencies in interna-
tional children’s television, which de-
viate sharply from the reality sur-
rounding the kids.
There are more than twice as many
male characters than female char-
acters. In clearly constructed pro-
grammes (cartoons, shows with
animals) the proportion of females
is even lower.
72 % of all main characters are
Caucasian and in most of the coun-
tries the reality of ethnic diversity
is not represented in an appropri-
ate way.
Overweight girls or elderly women
are virtually absent.
Children’s TV, especially quality-
oriented broadcasting, needs to opti-
mise its programming in order to
counteract these biased and distorted
representations of reality.
We found certain tendencies like girls
being portrayed disproportionately as
a member of a group and equal, and
rarely as loner or antagonist. As hu-
man beings female characters are sig-
nificantly more often blonde and red-
9
RESEARCH
21/2008/E
haired and twice as much really
skinny as compared to male charac-
ters. These kinds of portrayals are
gender-imbalanced and producers
should reflect whether these are tru-
ly necessary for the storytelling.
The tendency of children’s TV to tell
stories using certain stereotypes could
also be demonstrated with regard to
other aspects. With these combina-
tions of features – blonde men rarely
acting as loners, black men appearing
in groups of equals, Latinas as a team
of two, or Asian girls in groups – ste-
reotypes are established, which is im-
perative to recognise and dispel.
These combinations of features are
not natural but are the stereotyped
constructions of their producers.
What is needed is reflection over this
situation and the courage to create
different constellations and charac-
ters.
Of course, quantitative analysis can
only provide a partial picture and fails
to uncover aesthetic and dramatic
details of the programmes. The next
step will be to take a closer look at
those using qualitative methods, be-
cause children’s TV worldwide is di-
verse, and has different tendencies na-
tionally and regionally, which need
to be further determined and under-
stood. The similarities in these cases
are thus all the more remarkable –
especially with regard to gender re-
presentations. In contrast, the differ-
ences between domestic productions
and international programmes –
usually originating in the United
States – or programmes from public
and private networks are compara-
tively minor. This only goes to show
that there is still plenty of need for
optimisation and space for the cour-
age to include more diversity.
1 The only recent international comparative study
on gender representation in children’s television
compares Great Britain and Poland (Furnham/
Saar, 2005).
2 The selection and coding of the programmes was
in remit of the local partners, since they were the
experts of their national programmes.
3 In 3 cases technical problems occurred during
the recording, so that in November 2007 some
additional recordings had to be added to the
sample. It was ensured during these additional
recordings that the programmes were similar in
character.
4 Defined as the ones who can be seen on screen at
least 50 % of the time of the duration of the
episode.
5 Statistics South Africa: Mid-year population
estimates 2007 http://www.statssa.gov.za/
publications/P0302/P03022007.pdf (20.4.2008)
6 Source: Henkel KGaA, Corporate Communica-
tions, Germany.
Baker, K.; Raney A. A. (2007). Equally super?
Gender-role stereotyping of superheroes in chil-
dren’s animated programs. In: Mass Communica-
tion & Society, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 25-41.
Furnham, A.; Saar, A. (2005). Gender-role ste-
reotyping in adult and children’s television adver-
tisments: A two-study comparison between Great
Britain and Poland. In: Communications, vol. 30,
no. 1, pp. 73-90.
Gallagher, M. (2005). Global report 2005. In: Who
makes the news? Global media monitoring project
(www.whomakesthenews.org/who_makes_the_
news/report_2005).
Götz, M. (2006). Die Hauptfiguren im deutschen
Kinderfernsehen (The main characters of German
children’s TV). In: TelevIZIon, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 4-7.
Götz, M.; Lemish, D.; Aidman, A.; Moon, H. (2005).
Media and the make-believe worlds of children:
When Harry Potter meets Pokémon in Disneyland.
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
McAllister, M. P. (2007). “Girls with a Passion for
Fashion”: The Bratz Brand as integrated spec-
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Media, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 244-258.
Smith, S. L.; Cook, C. A. (2007). Gender stereo-
types: An analysis of popular films and TV. In:
Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media
(GDIGM) (ed.). 2008 Conference: Children and
gender in film and television. Conference documen-
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NOTES
REFERENCES
Kara Chan, Ph. D., is Professor at
Hong Kong Baptist University,
Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong.
Stephanie H. Donald, Dr. phil., is
Professor and Director of the Insti-
tute for International Studies at the
University of Technology Sydney,
Broadway, Australia.
JoEllen Fisherkeller, Ph. D., is Pro-
fessor at NewYork University, NY,
USA.
Micheline Frenette, Dr., is Profes-
sor at the Université de Montréal,
Montréal, Canada.
Tone Kolbjørnsen, Dr. art., is Pro-
fessor at the University of Bergen,
Bergen, Norway.
Dafna Lemish, Ph. D., is Professor
at TelAviv University, TelAviv, Is-
rael.
Kati Lustyik, Dr., is Professor at
Ithaca College, Ithaka, NY, USA.
Divya C. McMillin, Ph. D., is Pro-
fessor at the University ofWashing-
ton, Tacoma, WA, USA.
Juliette H. Walma van der Molen,
Dr., is a Psychologist at the Uni-
versity ofAmsterdam,Amsterdam,
The Netherlands.
Norma Pecora, Ph. D., is Professor
at Ohio University, Athens, OH,
USA.
Jeanne Prinsloo, Ph. D., is Profes-
sor and Head of department of the
School of Journalism and Media
Studies at Rhodes University, Gra-
hamstown, South Africa.
Marina Pestaj is Producer and Me-
dia Psychologist at RadioTelevizija
Slovenija, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Pablo Ramos Rivero, M.A., is Pro-
fessorandCo-ordinatoroftheCuban
Film Institute, Havanna, Cuba.
Ana-Helena Mereilles Reis, MBA,
is President of MultiFocus Market-
ing Research & Strategy and Direc-
tor of Midiativa, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Frieda Saeys †, Dr., was Professor
at the University of Gent, Gent,
Belgium.
Sebastian Scherr is freelancer at the
IZI.
Honxia Zhang, Dr., is Professor at
Peking University, Peking, China.
THE AUTHORS
Maya Götz, Dr. phil., is Head of the
IZI and the Prix Jeunesse Interna-
tional, Munich, Germany.
Ole Hofmann, Dr. phil., is a free-
lance media researcher, Germany.
Hans-Bernd Brosius, Dr. phil., is
Professor at Ludwig-Maximilians-
Universität, Munich, Germany.
Cindy Carter, Dr., is Professor at
Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
All reports are available on www.childrens-tv-
worldwide.com.

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Gender in children’s television worldwide

  • 1. 4 RESEARCH 21/2008/E M. Götz, O. Hofmann, H.-B. Brosius, C. Carter, K. Chan, St. H. Donald, J. Fisherkeller, M. Frenette, T. Kolbjørnsen, D. Lemish, K. Lustyik, D. C. McMillin, J. H. Walma van der Molen, N. Pecora, J. Prinsloo, M. Pestaj, P. Ramos Rivero, A.-H. Mereilles Reis, F. Saeys †, S. Scherr, H. Zhang Gender in children’s television worldwide Results from a media analysis in 24 countries In the world’s largest quantitative media analysis of children’s TV so far the main characters of fictional programmes in 24 countries were coded. The results show a clear un- der-representation and stereotyped depiction of female characters worldwide. C hildren’s television provides kids with stories, with mate- rial for their fantasy and of- fers images about the world. In this process television also gives them an idea of what it means to be a girl or boy, a woman and a man. While it is firstly the daily experiences in their immediate social environment which influence their world view, the media – and in this case particularly the lead- ing medium television – offer im- portant additional images and per- spectives. Children deeply incorpo- rate these images into their inner pic- tures, especially where the represen- tation of gender is concerned (Götz et al., 2005). But what do these images of boys/men and girls/women look like? How is femininity and masculin- ity being constructed in the media texts for children? National media analyses in the United States and Germany show a clear im- balance: 3 out of 4 characters are male (Smith, 2008; Götz, 2006). While women may no longer be pre- sented solely as helpless victims, however, regardless of the role they take on, they are almost always im- peccably beautiful and longing for the love of their life. In addition, fe- males are hyper-sexualised five times more often than males (Smith, 2008). Typical clichés such as the helpless blonde or the cheeky red-head are re- iterated over and over again (Götz, 2006). The occasional exceptions are few and far between: programmes which make girls and their perspec- tives the central focus. But even the super heroines, which at times may appear very modern, reveal obvious gender clichés (Baker/Raney, 2007), or they are characterised by endless consumption, where life is just a “passion for fashion” (McAllister, 2007). These media analyses – each based on national samples – already give a strong indication of the existing pat- terns, yet it remains unanswered whether these are merely national tendencies in the USA or Germany.1 Larger comparative studies on an in- ternational scale, similar perhaps to the Global Media Monitoring Project (Gallagher, 2005) in the domain of news reporting in adults’ media around the world, are missing. The study Children’s Television World- wide: Gender Representation aims to address this omission. In co-operation with international colleagues, a sam- ple of children’s television in 24 countries was collected and analysed. The research questions of this quan- titative content analysis as a first step were: What characterises the range of children’s TV programming that reached kids in the year 2007? Who are the main characters of the programmes? What characterises the integration of the main characters into the so- cial context and narrative? What kinds of differences exist between male and female charac- ters, between public and private channels, and between domestic and international productions? We will present a brief summary of some of the preliminary findings. Method In each of the 24 participating coun- tries a sample of children’s TV pro- grammes was taped, representing the most popular programmes and the diversity of the television pro- grammes available for children up to approximately age 12. On average, between 100 and 200 hours of broad- casting were recorded in each partic- ipating country, which represented the offering of the week as well as the weekend.2 Due to the limited range of children’s TV available in
  • 2. 5 RESEARCH 21/2008/E some countries, the sample collected for them was smaller. The dates of recording were May, 2nd, 2007 to July, 2nd, 20073 and the same code- book was used in all countries. The whole sample encompasses 2,367 hours of children’s TV, with 19,664 single programme elements. More detailed analyses were conduct- ed with 1,654 hours of fictional pro- grammes, which came to 6,375 shows with a total of 26,342 characters, with a special focus on the 14,959 human characters encountered therein (see table 1). Children’s TV programmes worldwide: fiction, cartoons, and bought-in productions The analysed sample of 9,207 indi- vidual programmes consisted of 6,375 (69 %) fictional shows, 1,570 (17 %) non-fictional programmes, and 678 (7 %) mixed formats. The proportion of non-fiction shows is significantly higher on public tele- vision. The main share of these fic- tional programmes is made up of ani- mated shows (84 %). Much smaller was the share of children’s pro- grammes featuring real human beings (9 %), mixed formats (5 %), or pup- pet shows (2 %). Of the countries surveyed Slovenia (96.5 %) and China (96.4 %) have the highest percentage of cartoons in their TV for children, while Belgium (54.8 %) and the UK (55 %) have the lowest. In regard to the country of produc- tion, only 23 % of the programmes are produced or co-produced domes- tically while 77 % of all fictional pro- grammes are “bought in”. The USA (82.7 %) and the UK (67.7 %) are countries with the highest percentage of domestic productions in their children’s television. Kenya (0.7 % of the programmes are at least not re- cognisably foreign) and New Zealand (0.5 %) are the ones with the lowest percentage. The biggest export region of chil- dren’s TV programmes is NorthAme- rica with 60 % of the worldwide pro- duction followed by Europe with 27.9 % and Asia with 9.3 %. To summarise, we can state that empirically, children’s TV consists primarily of fictional programmes, largely cartoons, which are not pro- duced domestically but are purchas- yrtnuoC retsacdaorB lanoitciF semmargorp llA sretcarahc namuH sretcarahc anitnegrA efeleT,9lanaC,7lanaC,31lanaC 43 011 05 ailartsuA 9lennahC,7lennahC,01lennahC,VTCBA 282 878 615 airtsuA ,LTRrepuS,2LTR,kciN,AK.IK,DRA,1FRO FDZ 794 021,2 821,1 muigleB MTV,4TV,xueDaL,tenteK,2aK 544 308,1 230,1 lizarB ,noedolekciN,obolG,lennahCyensiD arutluCVT,TBS,VTedeR,droceR 59 396 804 adanaC ,cQT,nootéléT/nooteleT,CRS,VTC,CBC VTY,KARV,SQT 741 510,1 906 anihC VTCC,VTB 772 510,1 695 abuC edlebeReleT,nóisivabuC 092 838 342 tpygE ,areezaJlA,2lennahC,1lennahC,trA nooTecapS,3CBM,nerdlihC&ylimaF 191 498 426 ynamreG FDZ,LTRrepuS,2LTR,kciN,AK.IK,DRA 754 110,2 590,1 gnoKgnoH lraePBVT,edaJBVT,dlroWVTA,emoHVTA 961 744 772 yragnuH ,2M,xiteJ,anuD,krowteNnootraC 2VT,bulKLTR,+A/xaminim,xaminim 182 019 864 aidnI -teNnootraC,krowteNailartsuA,xaminA ,vte,nahsradrooD,yensiD,anadnahC,krow ,enoratS,ynoS,ogoP,.rJkciN,kciN,vtayaj adannakeez,ayrus,vtnus,sulpratS 851 778 934 learsI -lekciN,xiteJ,!poH,6lennahC,nootraC ababaSseY,noedo 063 140,1 096 ayneK -eleTCBK,VTylimaF,noisiveleTnezitiC noitaN,krowteNnoisiveleTayneK,noisiv krowteNnoisiveleT,noisiveleT 941 187 106 aisyalaM 9VT,2MTR,1MTR,aireCortsA 92 371 621 sdnalrehteN noedolekciN,3dnalredeN,xiteJ 073 744,1 839 weN dnalaeZ ,noedolekciN,yensiD,krowteNnootraC 2vt,esuohyalP 283 916,1 079 yawroN 2VT,KRN,lennahCyensiD 87 463 512 ainevolS ,3VT,VTPOP,AlanaK,krowteNnootraC 1ajinevolSVT 665 651,2 715,1 acirfAhtuoS CBAS,VTE 402 321,1 028 airyS ,nerdlihC3CBM,nerdlihCareezaJlA etilletaSnairyS,lennahCVTts1nairyS lennahC 13 431 48 KU VTIC,seibeeBC,CBBC 062 871,1 885 ASU yrevocsiD,krowteNnootraC,ylimaFCBA ,snootkciN,noedolekciN,xoF,yensiD,sdiK -yalP,sdiKlatigiD/SBP,SBP;NehT/niggoN /WILW,xiteJ,yensiDnooT,yensiDesuoh ,NOI,WC,SBC,WC/XIPW,SBP/TENW,SBP tuorps,rjkcin,yensiDnooT,CLT,CBN 326 517,2 8721 latoT 573,6 243,62 959,41 Table 1: Participating countries and sample of the study
  • 3. 6 RESEARCH 21/2008/E ed from abroad, mainly from the US and Canada. Heroes in children’s television 1. Gender of the main characters: twice as many males as females We counted the main characters,4 their sex, age, their role and how they are integrated in their social environ- ment. The result: Just 32 % of the 26,342 main characters in the fiction- al programmes are female, while 68 % are male (see fig. 1). Norway (42 %/58 %), Syria (39 %/ 61 %), the UK (38 %/62 %), and Is- rael (37 %/63 %) broadcast children’s television with the highest percent- age of female characters. Argentina (19 %/81 %), Cuba (20 %/80 %), and Malaysia (23 %/77 %) show the low- est percentage of female leads in their children’s TV programmes. In animation programmes the propor- tion of female to male main charac- ters was 31 % to 69 %, which is low- er than in the real-life formats (40 % females to 60 % males). The percent- age of female leads is slightly higher in domestic productions than in im- ported ones. Overall, private broad- casters have a gender proportion of 33 % to 67 %, which is a better ratio compared to what the public and state broadcasters pro- vide (31 %/69 %). This is a remark- able result, since public broadcasters – with their public mandate – have the responsibility for representing the reality in a balanced way. The reality of human life is 51 % female to 49 % male, which could not be found in children’s TV any- where! This gender im- balance translates to other aspects of children’s television: In most of the fiction shows (76 %) no dominant voice-over is used. But if there is a narrator, it is more than twice as of- ten a male voice (15 %) than a female voice (6 %). To emphasise the result: There is a clear gender imbalance all over the world, in public and private tele- vision, in international and domestic programmes, in animated and real- life formats. In the next step we coded which type of being the main character is and if this means anything to gender equal- ity. The results show that more than half of all main characters are por- trayed as humans (59 %) and 1 out of 4 is an animal. This is complement- ed by a few monsters, mythical crea- tures, plants, objects and robots or machines. From a gender perspective the ratio of female to male human characters is the one least biased (37 % to 63 %). Female characters are even more no- ticeably underrepresented as animals (25 %/75 %), monsters (21 %/79 %), robots (16 %/84 %), and other fiction- al beings (13 %/87 %) (see fig. 2). This is particularly astonishing, since in such cases the biological sex of a character is purely constructed.Wheth- er an animal or a monster is a “he” or a “she” is entirely arbitrary. Yet we can discern that the protagonists of children’s television are much more frequently constructed as male than female. It seems that the greater the degree of creative freedom, the more the gender ratio is biased towards male characters. 2. Social relationships: females in groups and males as loners and antagonists More than half of the main charac- ters in children’s television are pre- sented initially in groups or teams (57 %), whereas 1 out of 5 appears as “loner” or as part of a team of two. Female characters appear significant- ly more often in groups than do male characters (60 %/54 %) and are pre- sented less often as loners (18 %/ 22 %). Brazil is the country with the most loner characters (69 %); the countries showing many programmes revolving around teams are China (76 %) and the USA (75 %). Regarding hierarchical relationships, nearly half of the characters appear more or less as equals in the story. 1 out of 5 represents a leader, and 16 % are followers of somebody else. Fe- male characters are more frequently shown as equals (plus 7 %), and they are less often represented as leaders or followers. A great proportion of main charac- ters are wholesome characters; only 14 % are presented as obvious villains. Countries with a par- ticularly large share of antagonists are the UK (29 %) and Australia (27 %); countries in which these characters ap- pear much less often are Israel (5 %) and Belgium (6 %). Only in 10 % of the shows women are presented as an- tagonists; compared to 15 % of all male characters.Fig. 1: Sex of the main characters in fictional programmes
  • 4. 7 RESEARCH 21/2008/E What male and female characters look like 1. Skin colour of main characters: the dominant skin colour is white Another focus of our research was on the external appearance of the human main characters. With regard to their skin colour a very clear tendency was brought to light: the majority, with 10,764 characters (72 %), were cod- ed as Caucasian. 1,739 (12 %) of the human characters in the sample pre- sent Asian physical traits. We found 961 (6 %) black characters, 383 (3 %) were classified as Latina/Latino, and 249 (2 %) as South-(East)-Asian. The proportion of Caucasian protagonists is larger in the bought-in programmes than in the domestic productions. The countries showing programmes with the highest percentage of black characters are the UK (15 %) and the USA (12 %). Malaysia or Hong Kong did not have any black characters – at least none appeared in the sample. Countries with the highest percent- age of white characters were Cuba (92 %), Argentina (90 %) followed by Belgium, Slovenia and South Af- rica (!). It is remarkable, that South Africa is one of the nations with the “whitest children’s television” with 81 % Caucasian main characters, al- though in reality only 9 % of the pop- ulation of that country are white (Sta- tistics South Africa 2007).5 Female characters more often have a skin colour other than Caucasian- white. Women are significantly more often represented asAsians,Africans, or Latinas. China and Hong Kong broadcast programmes with a high percentage ofAsian girls and women. However, few Asian girls can be found in children’s TV programmes in the UK or in Australia (both 2 %). More remarkable even than this is the finding that Kenya has a higher per- centage of Asian female characters represented in its programmes for kids than black Africans (16 %/ 11 %). In South Africa the propor- tion is at least balanced on a low lev- el, with 12 % to 12 %, yet again these percentages are far from representing the real distribution of skin colours in that country. 2. Hair colour of main characters: girls and women are more often blonde and red-haired Black, brown, and blonde are the main hair colours of principal char- acters in children’s TV. Female char- acters are significantly more often blonde and red-haired. The country with the highest percentage of blonde-haired girls is Australia (32 %), followed by the UK (30 %) and Syria (28 %!). The country with the highest percent- age of red-haired girls is Slovenia (27 %), followed by New Zealand, the German-speaking countries Ger- many and Austria, and Canada (all 22 %). While in Slovenia and Cana- da red hair is a common hair colour for both sexes, in Germany’s broad- casts only girls are presented with red hair. In reality, only 1 in 100 women in Germany is naturally red-haired.6 Interestingly, the UK, with only 4 % of the female main characters having red hair, ranks at 22nd place. 3. Protagonists’ age: babies and the elderly are nearly absent In terms of age the leading characters are mainly children, teenagers, and adults. Only rarely they are babies/ toddlers (2 %) or elderly (4 %). The countries with the highest percentage of children in their children’s TV are Malaysia (64 %) and China (53 %), while none or just a few children ap- pear in the programmes broadcast in Argentina, Hungary and Brazil. The countries with the highest per- centage of elderly people in the sam- ple areArgentina (12 %) and Norway (9 %), while in New Zealand, the USA, and Hong Kong older people do not play an important role in children’s TV(all under 2 %) – which is quite different from what children experience in their real lives, where grandparents often play a very im- portant role. Adolescent girls are more common than adolescent boys The female characters are significant- ly more often teenage (37 % vs. 25 % of the male characters) while a high- er percentage of male characters are adults. The country with the highest percentage of teenage girls is Hunga- ry (67 %), followed by the Nether- lands (62 %). 4. Main characters’ physique: skinny girls and overweight boys Most main characters are presented in TV broadcasts with a physique in a range that can be described as with-Fig. 2: Type of main character Source: IZI – Children’s Television Worldwide 2007, basis: all countries, 6,375 fict. programmes, n = 26,342 main characters
  • 5. 8 RESEARCH 21/2008/E in the normal range of TV reality. However, 9 % of characters are very thin, and 7 % very overweight. The share of particularly skinny charac- ters is especially high in internatio- nal productions. The gender-related findings are quite unambiguous: with 15 %, female characters are presented as very thin more than twice as often as their male counterparts (6 %). The country with the highest percentage of very thin girls isAustralia (45 %), followed by the UK (37 %). In Hong Kong and Israel (under 1 %) female characters were rarely coded as “very thin”. Obese girls or women appear scarce- ly at all in the entire sample. In the samples no overweight characters could be found in: Norway, Argenti- na, South Africa, and Hong Kong. In all likelihood, this does not corre- spond to reality. Male characters are twice as frequently overweight as girl characters Male characters are twice as frequently overweight as girl characters. The country with the highest percentage of overweight boys is Kenya (19 %), fol- lowed by Argentina (17 %). To summarise: Human characters presented on children’s TV are typically Cau- casian (75 % of cases), and rarely very young or elderly. Girls turn out to be very thin more often, tend to be teenage charac- ters more frequently, presented as blonde or red-haired more com- monly, and more likely to be pre- sented as Asian or African than their male counterparts. Boys, however, appear as white even more often, and they are pre- sented as overweight to a higher percentage. Disabilities and chronic diseases are virtually absent from children’s TV. Frequently appearing stereotypes In applying statistical analyses, cer- tain combinations of features can be shown to be particularly common, such as the examples presented be- low. They may illustrate some of the stereotyped depictions that should be avoided in children’s TV: What bad boys and girls look like The female antagonists in children’s TV are for the most part loners and leaders, who call the shots for others. Relatively often they are blonde and disproportionately often teenagers. Here the stereotype of the “blonde bitch” is reinforced again and again. Male antagonists, on the other hand, tend to be black or brown-haired adults, but virtually never blonde. They, too, are loners who call the shots; rarely are they ever members of teams, yet they are comparatively often disabled. Stereotypes of bad older dark-haired men with a dis- ability are enforced. What leaders and followers look like Leaders in children’s TV worldwide are over-represented as white. The idea of a “leading race” which is de- finitely not appropriate could shape the inner pictures of children. Female leaders are particularly often red or black-haired, while male lead- ers are rarely blonde. Female follow- ers are twice as often black-haired than in the normal population, and male followers are especially often blonde and overweight. Here, too, stereotypes of the little fatty blonde boy or the cheeky red-haired are told again and again. Social status of Blacks, Latinos/ Latinas, and Asians Overall, black characters are distinct- ly more often part of a team. This holds for female characters as well, but particularly for male blacks, who then are also equal to one another within the team. A stereotype of groups of black males who enjoy equality among themselves but are scary for society may be reinforced this way. Latinos are often presented as leaders and loners and not so often as equals. Latinas appear disproportionately of- ten as part of a duo. Here the danger of reinforcing the stereotypes of La- tino machos and Latinas with their one and only best girl friend are re- inforced. FemaleAsians are significantly often members of a group, while male Asians tend to be presented as a pair on children’s TV. The notion of Asians as less individual than e. g Caucasians is presented in this way. Conclusion – Gender in children’s TV worldwide This analysis brings to light striking- ly prominent tendencies in interna- tional children’s television, which de- viate sharply from the reality sur- rounding the kids. There are more than twice as many male characters than female char- acters. In clearly constructed pro- grammes (cartoons, shows with animals) the proportion of females is even lower. 72 % of all main characters are Caucasian and in most of the coun- tries the reality of ethnic diversity is not represented in an appropri- ate way. Overweight girls or elderly women are virtually absent. Children’s TV, especially quality- oriented broadcasting, needs to opti- mise its programming in order to counteract these biased and distorted representations of reality. We found certain tendencies like girls being portrayed disproportionately as a member of a group and equal, and rarely as loner or antagonist. As hu- man beings female characters are sig- nificantly more often blonde and red-
  • 6. 9 RESEARCH 21/2008/E haired and twice as much really skinny as compared to male charac- ters. These kinds of portrayals are gender-imbalanced and producers should reflect whether these are tru- ly necessary for the storytelling. The tendency of children’s TV to tell stories using certain stereotypes could also be demonstrated with regard to other aspects. With these combina- tions of features – blonde men rarely acting as loners, black men appearing in groups of equals, Latinas as a team of two, or Asian girls in groups – ste- reotypes are established, which is im- perative to recognise and dispel. These combinations of features are not natural but are the stereotyped constructions of their producers. What is needed is reflection over this situation and the courage to create different constellations and charac- ters. Of course, quantitative analysis can only provide a partial picture and fails to uncover aesthetic and dramatic details of the programmes. The next step will be to take a closer look at those using qualitative methods, be- cause children’s TV worldwide is di- verse, and has different tendencies na- tionally and regionally, which need to be further determined and under- stood. The similarities in these cases are thus all the more remarkable – especially with regard to gender re- presentations. In contrast, the differ- ences between domestic productions and international programmes – usually originating in the United States – or programmes from public and private networks are compara- tively minor. This only goes to show that there is still plenty of need for optimisation and space for the cour- age to include more diversity. 1 The only recent international comparative study on gender representation in children’s television compares Great Britain and Poland (Furnham/ Saar, 2005). 2 The selection and coding of the programmes was in remit of the local partners, since they were the experts of their national programmes. 3 In 3 cases technical problems occurred during the recording, so that in November 2007 some additional recordings had to be added to the sample. It was ensured during these additional recordings that the programmes were similar in character. 4 Defined as the ones who can be seen on screen at least 50 % of the time of the duration of the episode. 5 Statistics South Africa: Mid-year population estimates 2007 http://www.statssa.gov.za/ publications/P0302/P03022007.pdf (20.4.2008) 6 Source: Henkel KGaA, Corporate Communica- tions, Germany. Baker, K.; Raney A. A. (2007). Equally super? Gender-role stereotyping of superheroes in chil- dren’s animated programs. In: Mass Communica- tion & Society, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 25-41. Furnham, A.; Saar, A. (2005). Gender-role ste- reotyping in adult and children’s television adver- tisments: A two-study comparison between Great Britain and Poland. In: Communications, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 73-90. Gallagher, M. (2005). Global report 2005. In: Who makes the news? Global media monitoring project (www.whomakesthenews.org/who_makes_the_ news/report_2005). Götz, M. (2006). Die Hauptfiguren im deutschen Kinderfernsehen (The main characters of German children’s TV). In: TelevIZIon, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 4-7. Götz, M.; Lemish, D.; Aidman, A.; Moon, H. (2005). Media and the make-believe worlds of children: When Harry Potter meets Pokémon in Disneyland. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. McAllister, M. P. (2007). “Girls with a Passion for Fashion”: The Bratz Brand as integrated spec- tacular consumption. In: Journal of Children and Media, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 244-258. Smith, S. L.; Cook, C. A. (2007). Gender stereo- types: An analysis of popular films and TV. In: Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (GDIGM) (ed.). 2008 Conference: Children and gender in film and television. Conference documen- tation, pp. 12-23. NOTES REFERENCES Kara Chan, Ph. D., is Professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. Stephanie H. Donald, Dr. phil., is Professor and Director of the Insti- tute for International Studies at the University of Technology Sydney, Broadway, Australia. JoEllen Fisherkeller, Ph. D., is Pro- fessor at NewYork University, NY, USA. Micheline Frenette, Dr., is Profes- sor at the Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada. Tone Kolbjørnsen, Dr. art., is Pro- fessor at the University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway. Dafna Lemish, Ph. D., is Professor at TelAviv University, TelAviv, Is- rael. Kati Lustyik, Dr., is Professor at Ithaca College, Ithaka, NY, USA. Divya C. McMillin, Ph. D., is Pro- fessor at the University ofWashing- ton, Tacoma, WA, USA. Juliette H. Walma van der Molen, Dr., is a Psychologist at the Uni- versity ofAmsterdam,Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Norma Pecora, Ph. D., is Professor at Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA. Jeanne Prinsloo, Ph. D., is Profes- sor and Head of department of the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University, Gra- hamstown, South Africa. Marina Pestaj is Producer and Me- dia Psychologist at RadioTelevizija Slovenija, Ljubljana, Slovenia. Pablo Ramos Rivero, M.A., is Pro- fessorandCo-ordinatoroftheCuban Film Institute, Havanna, Cuba. Ana-Helena Mereilles Reis, MBA, is President of MultiFocus Market- ing Research & Strategy and Direc- tor of Midiativa, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Frieda Saeys †, Dr., was Professor at the University of Gent, Gent, Belgium. Sebastian Scherr is freelancer at the IZI. Honxia Zhang, Dr., is Professor at Peking University, Peking, China. THE AUTHORS Maya Götz, Dr. phil., is Head of the IZI and the Prix Jeunesse Interna- tional, Munich, Germany. Ole Hofmann, Dr. phil., is a free- lance media researcher, Germany. Hans-Bernd Brosius, Dr. phil., is Professor at Ludwig-Maximilians- Universität, Munich, Germany. Cindy Carter, Dr., is Professor at Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK. All reports are available on www.childrens-tv- worldwide.com.