Professor Catharine Lumby, director of the Journalism and Media Research Centre at the University of NSW, says “judiciously used” good children’s television can promote literacy and familiarity with audio-visual communication.

“It’s not just traditional forms of education such as numeracy and the capacity to read but also narrative literacy – it helps children’s understanding of narrative or stories,” she says.

Her book Why TV Is Good For Kids, co-written with her partner Duncan Fine, a children’s television writer, provoked criticism when it was released in 2006 but Lumby says many critics are missing the point.

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