A Commentary on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 17: Access to a Diversity of Mass Media Sources

Sherry Sacino is a lifelong journalist and entrepreneur having founded and operated two news services: Athletes News Service and Youth OUTLOUD! for more than 20 years. She is currently the President of the Youth Empowerment Alliance, Inc. and Editor-in-Chief of Youth OUTLOUD! a worldwide distribution network of youth-created media. She holds a Master of Advanced Studies in Children’s Rights from the Law Faculty of University of Fribourg/Institut Universitaire Kurt Bösch (IUKB) in Switzerland and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from Arizona State University. She lives in Florida, New York and Italy.

List of Abbreviations; Author’s Biography and Acknowledgements; Text of Article 17;
Chapter One - Introduction;
Chapter Two - Comparison with Related Human Rights Provisions;
1. Freedom of expression is made up of two different rights; 2. The duty to ensure a diversity in mass media sources;
Chapter Three - Scope of Article 17;
1. The rules of interpretation; 2. The first sentence of Article 17; 2.1 Clause-by-clause analysis; 2.2 The implied ‘reasonableness’ element pertaining to the standard of the duty; 3. The second sentence of Article 17; 3.1 ‘States Parties shall encourage …’ ; 3.2 The six ‘shall encourage …’ paragraphs; 3.3 ‘To this end, States Parties shall …’; 3.4 Implied duties; 3.5 Is Article 17 an individually held right or a ‘group right’?; 3.6 Summary of the legal interpretation; 3.7 Legislative history;
Chapter Four - Implementation of Article 17 as seen through the perspectives of the Committee;
1. Implementation as seen through the Days of Discussion; 2. Implementation as seen through the State Reports; 3. Implementation as seen through the Concluding Observations;
Chapter Five - Challenges;
1. Dangers to children; 2. Media literacy; 3. Private Sector Guidelines; 4. The role of libraries in society; 5. The participation of children; 6. The Internet’s Influence on the Future; 7. Revising the Reporting Guidelines;
Chapter Six - Conclusion;
Bibliography; Appendix A – Concepts and Definitions; Appendix B – Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics; Appendix C – The Oslo Challenge.