HYDERABAD: The Sixth Unicef Awards for Children-Related programs in Telugu Television channels in the city saw 11 awards being presented in various categories to 19 competing Telugu TV channels. Renowned lyricist, Sirivennela Sitaramasastri, was the chief guest for the event.
The highest Unicef Awards for Channel Most Committed to Children were conferred to Vanitha TV while Jury Special Award for Effective Communication and for Gender Sensitive Campaign were given to V6 News (Teenmar-Buddaporollotho Biccham) and 10TV (Bathuku Amma), respectively. Many other Telugu channels were also given different awards for contributing towards better causes for children.
On the occasion, Ruth Leano, the chief field UNICEF office for Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka said that change is possible. She also highlighted the important role played by media and the dynamic change it has brought over the past few years. “Children engagement is a challenge for us, but with the help of pro-active Telugu channels, we have been successful in spreading awareness for children’s protection and their growth. Telugu television channels have been an active participant in the Unicef awards since its inception and have demonstrated sustained commitment towards issues related to children”, she added.
Jury chairperson PVRK Prasad, IAS (retd.), who said, “They churn quality programs and the huge response they get show the active participation of media; the valuable time and commitment they have dedicated for better causes for children. These programs should also be replicated in other states and languages.”
Applauding the imitative by Unicef in partnership with Centre for Media Studies (CMS), PN Vasanti, the director general of CMS said, “Awards that focus on children and media are very few. The purpose of the award is to enhance awareness, knowledge and understanding about children issues among Telugu news and entertainment channels and encourage the editorial staff and the producers of the channels to pay greater attention to children-related program content.”
Prime time dedicated to programs were evaluated on parameters such as message research and presentation, innovation, quality of visuals, treatment of the subject from legal and rights perspective and overall assessment of the potential impact of the programs on the viewers.“What distinguishes this award from the others is the research that goes behind it. We recorded, monitored and analysed over 4,56,000 minutes of content churned out by the 19 news channels during prime-time. The hype-0.40% to 2.50 % of airing time dedicated to subject from the first edition to sixth edition, sets a benchmark in the history”, she added.