An innovative collaboration between NZ On Air and TVNZ will deliver an engaging locally curated online home for children's video and interactive content - and WIFT member Janette Howe is part of the advisory panel overseeing the website's content curation.
The project, which has yet to be named, will provide a safe, ad-free environment for children aged around 5 to 9 years old to explore and interact with local screen content. Children will be involved in developing the website.
Funded by NZ On Air to the tune of $1.5 million in its start-up year, the site will be managed by a newly-formed team in TVNZ using the company's content expertise and technology. Local content for the site will be funded in the usual contestable way through NZ On Air, supplemented with selected international content to give children a wider experience in one place.
The website content curation will be overseen by an advisory panel that includes external experts. One of the members of the panel is WIFT member Janette Howe, Chair of the NZ Children's Screen Trust (Kidsonscreen).
Ms Howe says, "A digital home for local content will give our children a trusted space they can call their own. We welcome the inclusion of principles from our Children's Media Rights Declaration - ensuring diversity, access and the full potential of stories to engage and enrich our young people."
A wide range of local content will be available on the site made by New Zealand producers, offering them new multiplatform and interactive content creation opportunities. Content creators with expertise in children's media will be invited to a forum shortly, focused on exploring the content opportunities the new website offers.
The site will go live around March 2018. The Charter of Principles that will underpin the site can be read here.