Our Mission
- WoW! News aims to inform children aged 8 to 12 throughout the world about initiatives which demonstrate that people, at any age, can have a positive impact on the world at many levels – on their own wellbeing and of those close to them, on society more broadly and on the planet.
- In informing children, WoW! News also offers practical examples of how they can contribute. For WoW! News, having a positive impact on the world means making progress toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
- In informing children of solutions and in providing practical examples for actions they can themselves take, WoW! News aims to counter feelings of anxiety and powerlessness that can be stimulated by exposure to the news of problems presented prominently in other media, and which is becoming ever more present in children’s daily lives.
- In doing so, WoW! News aims to help unleash the talent and energy of the youngest generation of news consumers in addressing the challenges posed by the Global Goals.
Our Means
- WoW! News presents its audience with hard facts, rigorously checked by experienced, professional journalists. Where possible, reporting is sourced to first-hand interviews and material directly provided by interviewees and checked with independent input, for example peer-reviewed journals. Other content may be identifiably sourced to publicly available material verifiably produced by the subjects of reports or, on occasion, to reliable, internationally recognised media.
- WoW! News is inspired by the four-stage approach promoted by the Solutions Journalism Network, adapting it to needs and capacities of preteen children. We focus on stories of people finding a response to social and environmental problems and offer insight on why it matters and how it works through evidence of impact, while making clear the limitations of any solution.
- WoW! News sources all content from: its own journalists, illustrators, designers, photographers and camera operators, either on staff or as paid freelancers, in line with codes laid down by the French press regulator CPPAP and journalism supervisor CCIJP; or from commercial suppliers of images under editorial contracts; or from private individuals and organisations which have granted rights to use their content.
- WoW! News provides content to children via a web application and a website, regulated by the French press authority CPPAP and the French data supervisor CNIL. The rights to privacy of its audience are respected. Access to its content is designed to be controlled by a parent or teacher, however all content is rigorously screened by the editorial team to be age appropriate. Children’s wellbeing is the priority – no content, however editorially relevant, is published that could harm or distress any child.
- WoW! News provides information to children in the form of text and video, in forms that correspond to the formats of adult news media to which they are exposed. This highlights to children that not all news is focused on problems and that news can also be focused on solutions.
- Written parental consent, as required under French law, is a condition for WoW! News to publish any image of a child or to identify a child in any way.
- WoW! News is supported only by subscriptions for access to its content and by grants from public bodies in the European Union to promote independent media and new businesses. It does not publish advertising, nor does it accept payments for sponsored content.
Our Values
- WoW! News supports the 17 Global Goals of the United Nations and makes it a priority, above commercial gain, to help the next generation achieve them.
- WoW! News is inspired by the values of NonViolent Communication® and Positive Psychology, that every human deserves respect, and that every person is capable of making a positive impact on the world.
- WoW! News adheres to the International Declaration of Human Rights and to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- WoW! News is global and universal. It aims to be understood and accessible to every child on the planet and to develop its offering in as many languages as possible. It makes no assumptions about its audience’s gender, nationality, beliefs, physical or mental abilities or disabilities or economic circumstances.
- WoW! News is an equal opportunity employer and seeks to adhere to the highest standards of care for its employees and stakeholders.
- WoW! News respects the environment. It chooses supplies and suppliers which have the least possible negative impact on our planet.
- WoW! News is not influenced by undeclared commercial interests, the interests of advertisers, sponsors, investors or grant-making institutions.
- WoW! News listens to its audience, heeds criticism and acts on suggestions to improve its content.
