Jeanette Steemers | King's College London (original) (raw)

Papers by Jeanette Steemers

Citing this paper Please note that where the full-text provided on King's Research Portal is ... more Citing this paper Please note that where the full-text provided on King's Research Portal is the Author Accepted Manuscript or Post-Print version this may differ from the final Published version. If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version for pagination, volume/issue, and date of publication details. And where the final published version is provided on the Research Portal, if citing you are again advised to check the publisher's website for any subsequent corrections.

In this chapter, Christine Singer, Jeanette Steemers, and Naomi Sakr focus on children’s media in... more In this chapter, Christine Singer, Jeanette Steemers, and Naomi Sakr focus on children’s media in the diaspora. Their analysis of two television shows that focus on the arrival of Arab children in Germany relies on theory relating to integration. It shows that the diaspora is heterogeneous and reminds us that Syrian refugees are not the first from the Arab world to seek asylum in Germany. This chapter focuses on media representations of children, a vulnerable population within a vulnerable population, refugees. These media representations are varied, showing different experiences that young refugees may experience and highlighting the range of joyful and difficult emotions that come with them.

Transparency and Funding of Public Service Media – Die deutsche Debatte im internationalen Kontext, 2017

This chapter focuses on the provision of public service content and services for children in the ... more This chapter focuses on the provision of public service content and services for children in the context of debates around the BBC and Charter Review, which took place between July 2015 and May 2016. In doing so, it conceives children’s television as a microcosm of many PSB challenges relating to competition, funding, commercialization and changing modes of consumption in a rapidly changing media landscape. The chapter brings into stark relief the fact that PSB needs to connect much more effectively with future audiences, specifically young people and children, whose engagement with public service television is becoming weaker as more of their time is taken up with online, participatory and mobile media.

Children from Arab countries constitute a growing proportion of media audiences in Europe. Recent... more Children from Arab countries constitute a growing proportion of media audiences in Europe. Recent conflicts in the region have caused hundreds of thousands of families to flee their homes in the Arab world, especially Syria and Iraq, to find safety in Europe. These displaced populations in European countries include large numbers of children. The one-year project summarised in this report was funded by the UK's Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). One of the project's major objectives was to explore representations of forced migration and diversity in European screen content for young children - those aged 12 and under. Arab experts were integrated into this process of exploration, creating opportunities for dialogue between European and Arab media practitioners and helping to alert European producers to the media needs, wants and experiences of Arabic-speaking children now living in Europe. Drawing on this dialogue, the project gathered recommendations concerning th...

Maya Götz, Caroline Mendel, Dafna Lemish, Nancy Jennings, Rebecca Hains, Fatima Abdul, Meryl Alpe... more Maya Götz, Caroline Mendel, Dafna Lemish, Nancy Jennings, Rebecca Hains, Fatima Abdul, Meryl Alper, Hania Asgari, Hadiza Babayaro, Catherine Blaya, Dina Borzekowski, Sandra Cadavid, AnneLinda Camerini, Beth Carmona, Cynthia Carter, Mussa Chale, Mareike Düssel, Aldana Duhalde, Andria Gayed, Patricia Núñez Gómez, Macarena García González, Yuval Gozansky, Eileen Sanabria Herrera, Kirsten Huang, Liselot Hudders, Yisra Al-Haj Hussein, Hayuki Ishikawa, Ruchi Kher Jaggi, Colleen Russo Johnson, Andreas Klempin, Jennifer Kotler, Cheryl Kotwal, Geoff Lealand, Sun Sun Lim, Thomas Enemark Lundtofte, Mónica Maruri, Giovanna Mascheroni, Markus Mendel, Máire Messenger-Davis, Joél Mulongo, Diana Nastasia, Sorin Nastasia, Christina Ortner, Grace Torres Panganiban, Nilüfer Pembecioğlu, Martina Peštaj, Adrianna Ruggiero, Ulises Soto Ruiz, Isolde Stanczak, Jeanette Steemers, Fadi Taher, Sandra Téllez, Moses Tholley, Ekatarina Yakusheva, Andrew Zi Han Yee

From the Publisher: The rapid growth of multimedia technologies such as the Internet, e-mail and ... more From the Publisher: The rapid growth of multimedia technologies such as the Internet, e-mail and digital television holds the promise of a new "information age" that caters to individual tastes and creates new wealth. But are new media technologies really designed to achieve these utopian aims? Addressing such issues, Multimedia: A Critical Introduction provides a historical, cultural and political context to the development of multimedia as both a technology and a concept. Individual chapters discuss the origins of multimedia in the unlikely interaction between the military and 1960s counter-culture; the wide-ranging effects of the deregulation of media industries by the "new right" governments in the 1980s; issues of privacy and censorship; and the use of digital technology to create special effects in films. Contributors: Peter Dean, Luke Hockley, Jeanette Steemers.

Transnational Screens, 2021

The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this p... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Children’s TV and Digital Media in the Arab World, 2017

Journal of Children and Media, 2021

ABSTRACT The material challenges of funding, commissioning and distribution that are well known t... more ABSTRACT The material challenges of funding, commissioning and distribution that are well known to inhibit production of children’s factual content about other countries and cultures operate in parallel with challenges arising from the moral responsibilities inherent in what Roger Silverstone called “the problem of proper distance”. By that he signified a “moral category” requiring filmmakers to provide “context as well as imagination” and be willing to “recognise the other in her sameness and difference”. “Distance” and “difference” have become at once more significant but also more ambiguous at a time of mass forced migration, in which traditions, religions and cultures from distant places are brought together in physical proximity. Based on input from cross-cultural dialogues, screenings and interviews involving European producers of children’s documentaries, this article explores dilemmas and experiences faced in representing the backgrounds and stories of children who arrived in Europe from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the mid-2010s. It shows the resonance of Silverstone’s thinking by revealing that many practitioners themselves apply notions of closeness and distance, both physically and metaphorically, in their choices about combining the familiar and unfamiliar and co-creating content with child participants. IMPACT SUMMARY a. Prior State of Knowledge: Existing power imbalances between filmmaker and subject/participant are accentuated when documentaries are made about vulnerable children. Studies have pinpointed competing pressures to tell a compelling story, respect privacy and provide background, while avoiding exoticism, didacticism and cultural preconceptions. b. Novel Contributions: Practitioners’ spontaneous references to “distance” when discussing their filming of refugee children demonstrate that Silverstone’s concept of “proper distance” as a “moral category” can be operationalised in co-creating content with documentary participants and evaluating the merits of such documentaries. c. Practical Implications: Creatives and commissioning editors responsible for children’s factual content about other cultures can use the findings to calibrate how they convey children’s “sameness” and “difference” with empathy and respect. Such content’s relevance for promoting social cohesion also matters to policymakers.

Critical Studies in Television: The International Journal of Television Studies, 2021

This paper starts from the premise that research into how producers negotiate issues of diversity... more This paper starts from the premise that research into how producers negotiate issues of diversity and multicultural content in Europe is rare and mostly relies on interviews and documents, and furthermore work on understanding those negotiation processes in relation to children’s screen content is even rarer. The article seeks to reflect critically on an alternative hybrid research method, which aims to open up a space for dialogue about production processes and was applied in three workshops about children’s content and forced migration that the authors ran with content creators and broadcasters of children’s screen content in 2017–2018.

Screen Media for Arab and European Children, 2019

This chapter concerns itself with policies designed to promote children’s well-being through medi... more This chapter concerns itself with policies designed to promote children’s well-being through media. First, it looks at different ways of regulating screen media for children’s benefit, focusing on the principles of provision, protection and participation that underpin the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)—before considering collaborative initiatives between regulatory bodies aimed at reducing disparities in European and Arab regulatory approaches. Adaptation of regulatory practices to the digital era is identified as a major challenge in both regions alongside differing interpretations and implementation of Article 17 of the CRC. Opportunities for national and transnational policy communities are then scrutinised as a route towards knowledge exchange and shared practices, revealing resistance from Arab states to activity that might enhance children’s media rights.

International Journal on Media Management, 2017

If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version for pagination... more If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version for pagination, volume/issue, and date of publication details. And where the final published version is provided on the Research Portal, if citing you are again advised to check the publisher's website for any subsequent corrections.

Media Industries Journal, 2017

This article focuses on media engagement within the industry. The article takes the form of a dia... more This article focuses on media engagement within the industry. The article takes the form of a dialogue between industry and academic researchers involved in a collaborative project on production and audience research on engagement (funded by the Wallenberg Foundation and in collaboration with Endemol Shine Group). Speakers from the film and television industry, and academic researchers working on media engagement, discuss how engagement is multifaceted, working across political and public spheres, policy and industry sectors, audiences and popular culture.

Media International Australia, 2017

Funding original children’s television has never been easy because this is rarely a commercially ... more Funding original children’s television has never been easy because this is rarely a commercially attractive proposition unless you target a global audience and tap into ancillary revenues from licenced merchandise. As a case of market failure, policy makers who wish to ensure the production of a diverse range of quality content for children have therefore pursued a range of interventions to ensure sustainable levels of local content in the face of strong competition from US-owned media services. The aim of this article is to evaluate different funding options for public service children’s content in a more challenging and competitive multiplatform media environment in countries with a strong tradition of public service content for children. Focussing on interventions that go beyond public service broadcasting (PSB) (quotas, alternative funds), it assesses the extent to which these interventions reflect a future-oriented approach, or one that is mired in the status quo and vested int...

Media in Europe …, 2011

Although conventional European media, the press and broadcasting in particular, continue to opera... more Although conventional European media, the press and broadcasting in particular, continue to operate largely according to traditional business models, convergence and digitization are transforming the sector, offering consumers a proliferation of choices across many ...

Communications, 2021

There has never been a greater need for reliable, truthful news to help citizens navigate and ass... more There has never been a greater need for reliable, truthful news to help citizens navigate and assess the veracity of what they are reading and viewing, especially on social media. Widespread concerns around ‘fake’ news demonstrate an enduring requirement for curated and trustworthy children’s news that addresses children as young citizens with certain rights. Drawing on recent UK events, we discuss the case for children’s news provision by public service broadcasting (PSB) from a communication rights perspective by analyzing the BBC’s 2019 plans to reduce the broadcast presence and originated hours of its flagship news service, Newsround, in favor of online distribution.

Transparency and Funding of Public Service Media – Die deutsche Debatte im internationalen Kontext, 2017

Transnational Screens, 2021

Children’s TV and Digital Media in the Arab World, 2017

Journal of Children and Media, 2021

Critical Studies in Television: The International Journal of Television Studies, 2021

Screen Media for Arab and European Children, 2019

International Journal on Media Management, 2017

Media Industries Journal, 2017

Media International Australia, 2017

Media in Europe …, 2011

Communications, 2021

Cultural Trends, Jan 1, 2009

King’s College London, 2018

This Report contains the collected works published as a result of the Arts and Humanities Researc... more This Report contains the collected works published as a result of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded project ‘Collaborative Developments in Children’s Screen Content in an Era of Forced Migration: Facilitating Arab-European dialogue’ (2017-18, www.euroarabchildrensmedia.org). There were five reports, starting with the three briefings on our workshops in Manchester, Copenhagen, and Munich, followed by the Project Report to Stakeholders and, finally, the briefing from the London symposium ‘Invisible Children: Children’s Media, Diversity, and Forced Migration’.
In this collection, the Project Report to Stakeholders is placed first, as it offers an overview of the remaining content. The purpose of all publications produced by the project is to stimulate continued dialogue among stakeholders after the project’s completion.

The one-year project which started in October 2018 explored screen content made for and about children from the Arab region who have recently arrived in Europe. Aimed at ‘Impact and Engagement’, the project was intended to share findings from a three-year AHRC-funded research project (2013- 2016) on screen content for children in the Arab world with stakeholders in Europe, including broadcasters, regulators, commissioning editors, producers, researchers and children’s media advocates.

One of the Engagement project’s major objectives was to explore representations of forced migration and diversity in European screen content for young children – those aged 12 and under. By integrating Arab experts into this process, we created opportunities for dialogue between European and Arab media practitioners, helping to alert European producers to the media needs, wants and experiences of Arabic-speaking children now living in Europe. Drawing on this dialogue, the project was designed to gather recommendations concerning the regulation, funding, and distribution of content for children that deals with diversity and forced migration. It also offers a springboard for further research.