PLAYGROUND POLITICS:
THE RISE OF NEWS FOR
KIDS
In a world of madcap presidents and bungling Brexiteers, children are swapping cartoons for current affairs write Elena Chabo and Megan Agnew hile Theresa May squabbles with her ministers, children have made up their own minds about Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK. “Donad [sic] Trump will make everyone feel bad for who they are even if he only comes for two days or whatever and make everyone sad!”; “If he came to the UK I would karate chop his face off!!!!!”; “Oh hell no he farts it’s in his name, ‘trump.’” This is a debate on The Week Junior’s online poll, and it’s a sign of the magazine sector’s changing shape. The children’s magazine market has grown steadily for the past five years, showing resilience against industry decline. In 2017, the sector (spanning from preschool to pre-teen titles) was worth £83.2m, compared to women’s fashion and lifestyle magazines worth £49.6m. For years big brands like CBeebies, Disney and Lego have dominated the market. But there is a new frontrunner emerging: current affairs for kids. The Week Junior is a weekly print magazine aimed at 8 to 12 year olds and is the fastest growing children’s magazine in the UK. The format is based around its parent publication, The Week, and it covers stories including North Korean missiles, rare hedgehogs, political coups, and funny kittens. Deputy editor Felicity Capon remembers how critics said it would never work. “People thought kids didn’t have an interest in current affairs.” But those people
were wrong. Since launching in 2015 it’s increased its circulation by 28%, selling 48,017 copies each week. And it isn’t a one-off. First News, a newspaper for children aged 7 to 14, recorded the highest circulation in the children’s magazine industry last year, beating branded magazines for the first time. It boasts a weekly readership of two million. Another popular news site for tweens, The Day, founded by ex-editor of the Financial Times Richard Addis, has over a million daily subscribers. But 20 years ago the newsstand looked very different. The kids’ sector was controlled by magazines like Bliss, Cosmo Girl, and Mizz, which wrote about boys and makeup, or football publications like Shoot and
MATCH!. In 2000, the most successful tween bible, Sugar, sold 400,000 copies a month, but by 2011 its circulation had fallen by 75% and, like many others, it folded. Previously booming titles were phased out by celebrity websites, fan pages and social media. The pre-teen market saw a universal shift. So why is it children are now reading the news? Nicky Cox, editor of First News, puts it down to exposure to the internet. She says: “It’s impossible to shield children from the news in this technological world. It’s First News’ job to help them
ILLUSTRATION: AMBER SENOCAK
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