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At WHAT'S UP, we think values should - and do - count when
schools choose among the various publications in the market.
Therefore, What's Up editors' core mission is "values-driven
journalism". For a start, this means that What's Up
will "do no harm". Its editors are extremely mindful
of the fact that grown-up mass media often undermine the
efforts of teachers and parents at inculcating positive
values. For example, adult newspapers routinely carry ads
for slimming products and bust enhancement (even as their
news stories bemoan body image problems and eating disorders
among the young!). Sex and sexism is frequently used to
titillate readers. Similarly, stories and pictures of war
and violence in adult newspapers rarely consider the impact
on the young.
What's Up does not believe in completely insulating children
from the grown-up world, but insists on the right of children
to find out about adult things in ways that are psychologically
healthy. Therefore, no What's Up stories, pictures or advertisements
are developmentally inappropriate for minors.
Values-driven journalism also translates into a positive
mission. What's Up regards the news as an endless source
of interesting stories that can be used to communicate positive
values, subtly and creatively. Past examples include using
footballer Wayne Rooney's escapades as an opportunity to
discuss anger management, pop singer Kylie Minogue's breast
cancer as a way to talk about resilience, and the response
to terrorist attacks on Mumbai and London as examples of
community bonding. Indeed, every major story in What's Up
is there to further some aspect of our editorial agenda
(below).
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THE WHAT'S UP COMMITMENT: The publishers and editors of What's Up pledge that -
- We will give children news that matters, emphasising stories that clarify change and enrich childhood.
- We will practise values-driven journalism, always putting children's needs ahead of commercial self-interest.
- We know that children are an impressionable and vulnerable audience, and will never publish stories, pictures or advertisements that are inappropriate for them.
- We will treat children with respect, as individuals who have a right to learn about their world and a right to express their views.
- We will work for a better Singapore and a better world, by preparing children to participate as responsible stakeholders.
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OUR EDITORIAL AGENDA: Through our stories, we promote -
- Multiculturalism. Respecting the diversity among people
while searching for common ground.
- Social responsibility. Addressing the needs of the local and global community through democratic participation.
- Environmental stewardship. Caring for the natural environment, globally and locally.
- Resilience in adversity. Coping with the conflict and calamity that are part of life.
- Discovery and innovation. Asking questions and searching for answers, guided by science and spurred by curiosity.
- Creativity and self-expression. Thinking, speaking and acting in original ways, without fearing the uncoventional.
- Character and self-respect. Building one's individuality, by respecting one's own mind, body and culture.
- Reading. Valuing the written word as the main medium for communicating complex ideas and transmitting knowledge.
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