Children’s App Reviews: Does Money Talk? Part Three

Sept. 9, 2015 It’s been an insightful, wild ride learning about the kids app industry...from the “Inside, Out.” In Part One we talked about the imperative need for transparency and media literacy in children’s app reviews with “expedited review” paid policies not being readily disclosed... In Part Two we focused on the face-off between app developers and reviewers about … [Read more...]

Children’s App Reviews: Does Money Talk? Part Two

Aug. 27, 2015 “I can make or break you” may sound more like a line from Good Fellas than a children’s app review site, but the skullduggery and reticent storytelling seeping out of the industry cracks since I wrote “Part One: Children’s Apps: Does Money Talk?” has nothing on Scorsese. The last few weeks have been a sophisticated sift and sort game of “perception vs reality” … [Read more...]

Children’s App Reviews: Does Money Talk?

August 4, 2015 Lately I’ve been deluged by email solicitations to publish "sponsored content," turning down so many advertising requests that I now have a template reply that goes something like this:“Thank you for your interest and outreach, but currently Shaping Youth is a self-funded, nonprofit, media literacy entity, thus we take no advertising, content marketing, link … [Read more...]

Man Down? Girl Up, Rihanna. Own Your Influence.

June 6, 2011 We interrupt our positive picks programming to hand over a pail and a scrub brush so parents can prep for the latest mop up of "young and the RECKLESS"... This week in Rihanna Redux, she's once again baiting outrage by splattering revenge fantasies around the interwebs with ambient buzz in Rihanna's new "Man Down" video about a woman who shoots and kills her … [Read more...]

FCC: Kids Programming Is Laden With Product Placement

That’s my official FCC filing at left, (squeaked in under the deadline today, explained why later) which emphatically states kids should be OFF LIMITS to embedded ads designed to bypass the Tivo tactics of wise wee ones who blip through traditional commercials to get back to their favorite show unscathed. I've written about this a lot before, vetting thoughts about … [Read more...]