Mrs. Smith is set to make her best attempts as Ms. Rogers as the acclaimed actress turned filmmaker is set to executive produce a 10-episode trial aimed at promoting global media literacy among children aged 7-12 titled Our World. According to BBC-commissioned U.K. research, seven tends to be the age that children become aware of the news they digest. At the average age of 12, the U.S. child signs up for a social media account, so the time between those ages can be a deal-breaker for an informed electorate and one that is spent augmenting conspiracy theories.
In Jolie’s words, it “represents a window to instill in children the value of asking questions and a chance to develop critical thinking. There has never been a time when it was more important to introduce the next generation to objective, impartial news and factual explanation of the events and issues shaping our world, children today are exposed to a lot of opinions, but not necessarily to information that is fact-based and reliable.”
Jolie added: “As a mother, I am very pleased that the BBC World Service is taking this step. It is also important to me that the project is global, and will help young people in different countries to be connected to each other and to have greater awareness and understanding of the news on an international basis.”
Set to be a multimedia project, Our World will launch as a trial project from the BBC as they continue to negotiate terms with a number of international digital and broadcast media organizations to co-produce and distribute the series.