Although children’s programming has been considered to be at the forefront of incorporating racial and ethnic diversity, the roles on television for racial and ethnic minorities have continued to be limited or based on stereotypes, and sheer presence in numbers for non-whites is still lacking in comparison to white characters. Television programming during the 1990s and early 2000s became a key period in history for racial and ethnic representation, as programming as a whole reflected a greater non-white presence than ever before, with children’s programming as no exception. This thesis focuses on how race and ethnicity were depicted on the children’s cable networks Nickelodeon and Disney Channel during this time period. My study focuses on three programs, The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo (Nickelodeon, 1996-1998), Taina (Nickelodeon, 2001-2002), and The Proud Family (Disney Channel, 2001-2005), all of which placed racial and ethnic minorities as lead characters, diverging from the standard in casting for children’s television programs. In observing whether these programs portrayed race in an assimilationist, color/culture conscious, or post-racial manner, my study provides insight into the overarching narrative constructed about race and ethnicity for youth viewing two of television’s most successful networks committed to programming for kids in this time period. / text

Submitted by Daniele Santos (danielesantos.htl@gmail.com) on 2015-12-22T16:42:11Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tsatsi.pdf: 2929577 bytes, checksum: 891aabbcf7fe3c8f88c52bdcc914d2b9 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Janete de Oliveira Feitosa (janete.feitosa@fgv.br) on 2015-12-29T13:15:34Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tsatsi.pdf: 2929577 bytes, checksum: 891aabbcf7fe3c8f88c52bdcc914d2b9 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marcia Bacha (marcia.bacha@fgv.br) on 2016-01-07T11:55:31Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tsatsi.pdf: 2929577 bytes, checksum: 891aabbcf7fe3c8f88c52bdcc914d2b9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-01-07T11:55:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tsatsi.pdf: 2929577 bytes, checksum: 891aabbcf7fe3c8f88c52bdcc914d2b9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-10-27 / In the contemporary societies, many children are drawn to digital media, using it in ways that were initially unfathomable. Changing digital habits among young children have been affiliated to the rapid development, witnessed in the technological field. Prevalently, new forms of technology are being developed and ingrained into young children’s day-to-day activities. The emergence of new forms of technology has in turn prompted significant changes in digital and media consumption particularly, among young children. Changes in media and digital consumption have in turn instigated linear transition in the analogue media industries. This has resulted in analogue media networks working towards digitalizing their industries in a manner that will befit changing digital habits among young children. This report aims at establishing and analyzing the different ways in which children’s digital habits have changed and revolutionized. To achieve this, the report will critically examine the existing scope of knowledge, with reference to changing digital habits among young audiences. Further, the report also aims at establishing the manner in which children television networks have adapted to the changing digital habits among young audiences. To achieve this, the report will focus on two children television networks, Disney channel, and Nickelodeon. After which, a comparative analysis will be conducted to establish the changes made by each of these television channels, with the aim of adapting to the new digital habits among children.