The way news programs portray children is once again under debate in Argentina. Argentine Television Observatory (OTV), in conjunction with UNICEFA new monitoring project has been launched to study how media narratives about children and adolescents are constructed and what place they occupy in the news agenda of broadcast television. This new phase resumes a line of research initiated in 2010, when the OTV conducted, for the first time, a comprehensive study on the presence and treatment of children in television news, setting a precedent in the academic field and in the public debate on the social responsibility of audiovisual journalism.

The Argentine Television Observatory, coordinated by the researcher Gabriela FabbroIn 2010, the first national study on how Argentine news programs represented children and adolescents was conducted. This initiative, developed in conjunction with the Civil Association for Social Journalism, marked a milestone in media and childhood studies in the country. For the first time, a systematic analysis was performed of the space these topics occupied in television news programs, how news stories involving children and adolescents were narrated, and whose voices were heard. The new monitoring project in 2025, carried out in partnership with UNICEF, uses this methodology to allow for direct comparisons between the two periods and to observe whether the media representation of childhood has changed over time.

Gabriela Fabbro is a professor and researcher at the Faculty of Communication of the Universidad AustralShe holds a PhD in Public Communication from the University of La Laguna and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Buenos Aires. Since 2005, she has coordinated the Argentine Television Observatory, a pluralistic forum that brings together specialists from various disciplines, social organizations, and media stakeholders to critically analyze television and promote improvements in content quality. Her work has focused on audiovisual storytelling, television and quality, and she was instrumental in launching this pioneering line of research.

The monitoring conducted in 2010 included three months of programming from the most-watched evening news programs: Telenoche, Telefe Noticias, Telenueve, América Noticias, and Visión Siete. More than six hundred news items were analyzed across more than twenty categories. The results showed that only 12,4% of the news stories broadcast during that period addressed issues related to childhood and adolescence, a very low proportion considering that almost 35% of the Argentine population is under 18. Furthermore, almost 70% of these news stories appeared in the main headlines, revealing that, although infrequent, they held a prominent place on the news agenda. The first progress report of the 2025 monitoring shows a continuation of these findings. Of the 4.509 news stories analyzed on free-to-air television news programs in the City of Buenos Aires, only 327 dealt with issues related to childhood and adolescence, equivalent to 11,13% of the total. Fifteen years later, childhood continues to occupy a minimal space in the television agenda.

The dominant theme in 2010 was violence. 43,2% of news stories about children focused on violent events, almost double the rate of the second most frequent topic, education (21,6%), followed by health (13,5%). This concentration relegated a large number of other issues and dimensions of children's lives to the background. Issues such as disability, poverty, child labor, the environment, and technology were practically absent from coverage, many of them with percentages below 2%. The media agenda was heavily limited and centered on episodic events, with little room for diverse perspectives or positive stories. In the new monitoring, violence continues to occupy a central place, although significant changes are emerging. Coverage related to health, culture, and socio-emotional issues is increasing, especially mental health, bullying, and digital exposure. These topics were not present on the 2010 agenda, and their inclusion indicates a partial broadening of news narratives.

Another relevant aspect was the lack of depth in the news reports. Most were presented as brief chronicles, focused on specific events, without context or follow-up. Only 6,8% were special reports with more in-depth coverage. Furthermore, almost 92% of the articles did not include statistics, and more than 90% did not mention legislation related to children. Public policies were also not referenced in most cases. Although the voices of children and their families were the most frequently heard, specialists and social organizations had minimal presence, and a rights-based perspective was practically absent. The 2025 monitoring incorporates criteria that allow for an assessment of whether there have been improvements in these areas. For the first time, the monitoring assesses respect for the privacy of children and adolescents, the use of non-discriminatory language, and the inclusion of a gender perspective. An increase in the proportion of in-depth reports compared to brief chronicles is also observed, suggesting a possible interest in contextualizing information, although this is not yet widespread.

This overview describes a television landscape that, in 2010, approached childhood primarily through the lens of conflict and with a limited focus. A comparison with the 2025 data reveals both progress and continuities. New themes have emerged, along with greater sensitivity to previously overlooked issues, but the media hierarchy continues to relegate childhood to a marginal position. It will be crucial to determine whether the media agenda successfully incorporates this complexity, whether the use of statistics and legislation increases, whether the range of topics expands, and whether coverage becomes more contextualized and less episodic. It will also be important to analyze whether the predominance of violence persists or whether other approaches related to education, health, culture, and rights gain traction. Comparing the two periods will allow us to identify continuities and ruptures in how broadcast television portrays childhood.

The presence of childhood in the news

* Note published on the blog Public Communication of Science in Communication.