Little News Ears
By Robert Yaniz Jr.,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Kids share news from around the world, show media literacy.
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What’s It About?
LITTLE NEWS EARS is continually expanding its coverage of global news, chosen and presented by and for children and teens. Topics range from broad discussions of historical figures and their accomplishments (e.g., television icon Lucille Ball) to more specific events happening in countries around the world, such as the state of the fishing industry in Sri Lanka. The podcast aims to help kids develop agency of what they want to learn from the news, as well as helping them learn media literacy and critical thinking skills. Each episode is around seven minutes long, making this a great podcast to listen to on a commute or in the classroom and to spark larger conversations between kids and adults.
Is It Any Good?
Little News Ears might have the ambitious goal of presenting news in a way kids can understand, but the mixed results indicate that perhaps the show should focus on a more controlled format instead. As it stands, the Little News Ears feed is home to more than a half-dozen shows, with the production value often suffering. Sound quality can be rough at times, with dead air and poor editing present throughout.
In addition, the feed seems to have been active since at least 2020, though only episodes released in 2023 and beyond are widely available. Maybe the show already underwent an overhaul in the past at some point. In any case, perhaps the current slate of shows could be consolidated into segments of a longer, more thorough program with a steady hand guiding the entire thing. But in its current form, Little News Ears is a great idea lacking the proper execution to deliver the results it aspires to.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Little News Ears seemingly makes an effort to be inclusive of hosts and stories from different parts of the world. Why is this kind of representation so important? Why is it important to hear news from around the world, not just your own country or state?
Little News Ears has a big idea of filtering world news through the perspective of kids. Why might it matter so much for young podcast listeners to hear world events directly from their peers?
Each of the various shows on the Little News Ears feed has its own theme music, format, host, and (seemingly) production team. Does this help the overall podcast feed or hurt its mission? How does structure of a show impact how you take in the information from the show.
Podcast Details
- Release date: August 25, 2023
- Genre: News
- Average Run Time: 7 minutes
- Host: Various Hosts
- Production Company and Network: Zoocenia!
- Pricing structure: Free
- Topics: History
- Last updated: December 5, 2023
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
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