ITN has recently renewed its contract to produce Discovery Education’s news bulletins for primary school aged children for another five years.
Tami Hoffman, Head of News Production and Archive at ITN:
“I am delighted that ITN will continue to produce the kids bulletins for Discovery Education – it is a product we are proud of. Media literacy has never been more important to support children and young people’s learning as they navigate the online world of mis- and disinformation. The bulletins demonstrate how high quality, impartial journalism can enrich and inform their understanding of the world around them.”
The bulletins are produced by ITN’s news production team have had the contract to produced the programming with Discovery Education since 2012. They form part of Discovery Education’s ‘Espresso’ digital learning platform for schools, which offers a variety of teacher tools for engaging students in learning, including videos and interactive resources that connect curriculum subjects to current events. Called Espresso News, this tool brings the world’s biggest news stories to thousands of primary school classrooms every day.
ITN news production is one of seven distinct divisions at ITN, providing news footage and TV services for broadcasters, publishers and global video platforms. The team delivers a daily voiced bulletin to primary schools for the start of the school day, as well as a longer form weekly bulletin with studio links delivered in two versions that reflect the national curriculum key stages one and two.
The Espresso News bulletins cover a wide range of topics including climate change, the weather and natural events, fossils, archaeology, as well as PHSE and topical citizenship stories such as politics and migrants.
In 2023 so far, the bulletins have included a World Book Day special, which reflected events taking place in school across the UK; and heard from children about the books they love and why. As well as a signed bulletin to mark British Sign Language week. News stories covered this year have included the earthquake in Turkey and Syria and the teachers strikes.
Howard Lewis, Discovery Education’s UK and International Managing Director:
“Espresso News offers powerful opportunities to bring current affairs and world events to pupils of all ages. We’re delighted to continue our partnership with ITN, which brings a world-class news service to thousands of children every day, connecting the learning in the classroom to the world beyond the playground.”
ITN holds a unique place in the UK media landscape as home to three distinct newsrooms – ITV News, Channel 4 News and 5 News.
