With “Mission info”, a weekly magazine for 7-11 year olds, France Télévisions completes its information offering for young people, a niche already well occupied by Arte. Overview of the different programs.
Élise Lambert, Myriam Bounafaa and Raphäl Yem form the trio presenting the new show “Mission Info”, accessible from 7 years old. Nathalie Guyon – FTV
Par Pascale Paoli-Lebailly
Published on January 22, 2025 at 12:33 p.m.
HAS time of fake news and the fight against disinformation – YouTube and TikTok are the main sources consulted by 12-18 year olds –, offering reliable information adapted to young audiences is part of the role of media education and the image that we increasingly expect from audiovisual companies.
Arte has been doing this for 10-14 year olds since 2014 with two programs: Art journal junior (weekdays) and Arte junior, the mag (on Sunday). Broadcast respectively at 6:25 a.m. and 8:05 a.m., times which limit the audience, they are also available in replay on arte.TV. For its part, France Télévisions has been offering since September 2023 What is the information? a rather clever news story for 12-18 year olds to watch on Franceinfo.fr and on the networks. Building on this success (160 million views), the group has just expanded its offering with Mission info, launched on Sunday January 12 and aimed at 7-11 year olds, making it the only news format for this age group. It is broadcast on Sundays at 11:45 a.m. on France Télévisions’ youth platform, Okoo (rebroadcast on Wednesdays at 1:40 p.m.), and accessible on YouTube, france.tv and franceinfo.fr.
After our decryption of What is the information?, in September 2023, we analyzed how these youth information programs differ… and complement each other.
“Mission info” targets a single theme
“Mayotte is a French archipelago located, look, in the Indian Ocean, between Madagascar and the south of the African continent”, explains Myriam Bounafaa, launching a colorful and refined infographic from her smartphone to help children locate the 101st French department. The Franceinfo journalist is one, with Culturebox figure Raphäl Yem and young reporter Élise Lambert, of the three presenters of the new ten-minute magazine, whose first issue focused on the return to school of children in Mayotte after Cyclone Chido.
Due to the age of its target, it is not positioned within a social network logic. So much the better ! Magazine rather than news, the show, which also seeks to attract parents, opts to explore only one current subject. On January 19, it offered a breath of fresh sea air with the legendary Vendée Globe race; Next Sunday, she will deal with the flu epidemic.
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As shown in the broadcasts on Mayotte and the Vendée Globe, the course, which aims to offer “accessible lighting”, depending on the broadcaster, is punctuated by various sections: a reminder of the facts (the devastation, the lack of water and electricity, etc.) and explanations, supporting images, on the reconstruction of bangas (shanty towns) or on what offshore racing is. This is followed by field reporting (Mahorese community of Creuse) and interviews (children, Soprano for its support pot, the navigator Louis Burton). At the end, a fun quiz invites you to check that the essentials have been understood.
In terms of form, the magazine, still being broken in, carries, as What is the information? particular attention to the board, more colorful than a classic board, and to the infographics which help enrich the comments. Basically, we understand France Télévisions’ choice not to disturb children by moving from one subject to another. However, the treatment of a single subject, even in depth, can seem long and monotonous. Despite the journalists’ obvious efforts to address their young audience in a relaxed but serious manner, going ten minutes forces them to dwell on certain angles in sometimes artificial ways.
“Arte journal junior” chooses variety
The daily show “Arte Journal Junior”, presented here by Caroline Höfchen, is aimed more at a pre-teen audience. Frédéric Maigrot for ARTE
Arte’s daily show targets an audience of preteens, but its duration does not exceed seven minutes. Fairly classic in style, this bilingual French-German newscast, played by several journalists, focuses on variety. It provides information on sometimes heavy news (but not only) and made up of three subjects (ceasefire in Gaza, anniversary of the Veil law, dangers of screens or winter sports), alternating launches on set, reports from illustration and infographics in animation.
In addition to current issues, the news can also follow a theme over several episodes and answer questions asked by children (why do babies cry when they are born?). The weekend, time for travel and discovery in Arte junior, the mag. A quarter of an hour of information and three subjects (animal winter, dinosaur footprints, Tintin in audio), or even just one when it comes to a special edition (animal protection). These reports are preceded by the portrait of a child of the world. Immersive and engaging.
q Mission info (information magazine, 10 mins). On Okoo, YouTube, france.tv and franceinfo.fr.
r What is the information? (news news, 5 mins), on YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok, franceinfo.fr and Franceinfo.
r Arte journal junior (news newspaper, 7 mins) and Arte junior, le mag (news magazine, 14 mins), on arte.tv.
