The 10 Minute Youth News started in 2004 and was the first member of Wadada News for Kids. The first 10-minute broadcast was aired on the Surinamese television channel STVS on October 22, 2004. The journal is an initiative of FREE VOICE, a media organization in the Netherlands dedicated to independent journalism and press freedom in developing countries. About 260 broadcasts a year are currently made.
The program lasts 10 minutes because research shows that children lose interest after that. The program focuses on children aged 10 to 14. The goal is to create news especially for children and inform them in such a way that they can be part of broader discussions.
Since the inception of the 10 Minute Youth News, the program has won several awards. For example, the newsreel won a UNICEF Award in 2009, a PAHO Caribbean Media Award for best story on children’s rights in 2008 and two Suriname Media Awards in 2006. And those are not the only awards they have won. The most recent award the newsroom won was the award for best children’s news item in 2012.