Youth broadcasting company in Lima wants to reach all of Peru

january 2008 -

The film crew was just returning from Chincha, a village south of Lima, Peru that was hit hard by an earthquake in August, 2007. "We originally went there to document the situation of the children in the devastated area. Now, after four months, we went back and sadly, as we expected, the situation had scarcely changed."

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Bernardo Cáceres, head of the youth broadcasting company NAPA (No Apto Para Adultos – Not Suitable for Adults), believes this news item is a good example of the 'adult’ nature of NAPA's programmes for the youth. "Our target group consists of young people between the ages of twelve and fourteen. So we devote a lot of attention to topics that are popular in the youth culture, but we certainly do not avoid more serious topics like the consequences of an earthquake for the youth. Thus I prefer to qualify our programming as an informative current news magazine for the youth."

NAPA was launched in June, 2007 in cooperation with Free Voice of the Netherlands, and receives funding from Plan International. The company's editorial staff consists of eight adults who were trained by the editors of the youth news broadcasts in the Netherlands and Suriname. NAPA must achieve the independence of generating its own income within one year.

In a country where more than forty percent of the population is younger than nineteen, NAPA should be able to reach a large audience. The programmes are successfully aired in the province by thirty-two local television stations. In the capitol of Lima, NAPA's programmes can only be viewed via the Internet. Cáceres: "The national and commercial broadcasting companies in our capitol apparently need some time to get used to the idea of a news programme for the youth. But that will change in time."

A group of local correspondents was recently trained in the NAPA studio. They take the initiative, submitting items on topics that interest them. "The topics covered by our film crew are limited to the Lima region for financial reasons. It is our hope that the local correspondents will stimulate the intercultural and de-central nature of our programming. NAPA should be a media platform where the new generation of Peruvians can meet," according to Cáceres.