Section IV - Are There Alternatives to Current Media Coverage?

Without a doubt, media coverage of Internet issues related to families and children tends to concentrate on problem areas (particularly child pornography, pornographic content in general, and criminal content). There is also a bias towards sourcing industry groups and representatives, rather than educators and public interest groups. Below are suggestions for improving coverage of the Internet as it relates to children and families:

• Although the majority of articles urged parents to become more Internet-literate, (in order to teach their children safe online usage habits, especially when participating in chat rooms) more coverage could be alloted to articles that pragmatically educate parents on safe and responsible Internet use. In mainstream culture, "Netproofing" kids is thought to be the primary responsibility of parents and guardians.
  
  
• Articles frequently focused on controversies regarding the decisions of some Canadian and American public libraries to install filtering software on their public access Internet terminals. However, given the amount of attention this debate has received across North America, the media could have contributed more thoughtful coverage on the complexities of filtering software, and the role that public libraries and librarians play in our knowledge-based economy.
  
  
• More coverage could be extended to a critical analysis of Internet technology in the everyday lives of children and young people. Articles could address issues concerning the commercialization of Web content directed towards children.
  
  
• Privacy issues could be examined more critically, especially online marketing practices that involve intrusions into the personal information of children.
  
  
• More youth, educators and public interest groups could be consulted on stories covering the Internet and children.
  
  
• Access issues, such as the Canadian "digital divide," are scarcely mentioned in the media - though young "netrepreneurs" who use the Internet for e-commerce applications are discussed in almost heroic terms. More nuanced debates on the realities of the "digital divide" in Canada, and various government and community efforts to bridge this access gap could be explored.
  
  
• The overall media culture of children is not adequately explored. Aside from the many articles ruminating over the Columbine tragedy, the media tends to present unsavory Internet content as divorced from the overall media culture - when in fact, the sexualization and tabloidization of popular culture has become commonplace.