The FIPP Initiative for Kids Trusted Media, launched earlier this year, aims to establish global industry standards for children’s media and counteract algorithm-driven and AI-generated content consumed by youth. Spearheaded by Yulia Boyle, Chair of the FIPP Advisory Board, and chaired by Storytime Magazine co-founder and Editorial Director Lulu Skantze, the initiative responds to growing concerns over unvetted digital media consumption among young audiences.
According to data cited from Common Sense Media and the News Literacy Project’s 2024 News Literacy in America report, US teens average nine hours of media daily, largely driven by algorithms. Furthermore, 40% of 12-year-olds struggle to distinguish commercial from factual content online, while 82% cannot differentiate news from opinion and advertising.
“A child who grows up navigating algorithmic noise and AI-generated content, without regular exposure to quality storytelling, does not grow into a discerning adult consumer of media,” Yulia Boyle said at the initiative’s formal inauguration during FIPP Insider Marseille. “It’s not only a social problem – left unaddressed, it results in a shrinking market for everything we make.”
Establishing Global Standards and Institutional Access
The initiative’s programmatic framework is structured around four core work streams:
- Gold Standard: A globally recognized benchmark for children’s media covering human-led creativity.
- Institutional Access: Unified pathways into schools, libraries, and other institutions to facilitate global discovery and distribution.
- Professional Accreditation: Credentials for editors, journalists, and designers, establishing children’s publishing as a distinct professional discipline.
- Insight and Foresight: Shared intelligence regarding how Generation Alpha engages with content, accessible across FIPP and WAN-IFRA membership.
According to Skantze, the initiative originated from strategic discussions with Boyle and FIPP CEO Alastair Lewis regarding audience sustainability. “If we don’t look after the next generation, if we don’t create magazines for them, if we don’t make a better effort as an industry to help publishers publish more things for kids, we won’t have readers,” Skantze noted.
Industry Response and Future Engagement
FIPP CEO Alastair Lewis emphasized the broader industry implications of the project. “Children’s media has too often been treated as a niche within the publishing industry,” Lewis said. “FIPP creating this sends a signal we hope the whole industry will act on: that the readers of the future are a shared responsibility, and that the standards we set now will define the market we inherit.”
Publishers and media organizations operating children’s or youth verticals have been invited by FIPP to nominate representatives to join the initiative.
