Anne Wood says algorithms bypass ‘the responsibility of art’ and have failed to support high-quality children’s content
Lots of programmes for children on YouTube are “empty” and do “nothing to encourage the imaginative life of children”, the Teletubbies creator has cautioned parents.
Anne Wood, the veteran children’s producer who devised the popular TV show for preschool children, said children’s television had long been undervalued and she feared “we’re losing a tremendous amount and nobody can see it because it’s not considered important”.
She felt that platforms such as YouTube had abdicated “the responsibility of art” produced by trained professionals. “It’s exciting but it’s not necessarily being used responsibly in the interests of young audiences,” she said.
Wood and other figures in children’s TV shared their concerns that the algorithmic and endless scroll functionalities on YouTube did not prioritise high-quality content for children in the same way that public service broadcasters could, after the children’s laureate, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, told MPs that much programming on YouTube served as “sedation”.
