Have Your Say
What are news media supposed to do?
- Tell people about what is happening in the world in a way that does not harm, or discriminate against, anyone.
- Make news reports that are accurate and fair.
- Give people information so they can make their own.
- Not take sides when reporting.
What can you do?
The Constitution of South Africa says that all people in the country have a right to information and access to information. The media are an important source of information and it is necessary that they tell stories in a way that is fair, accurate and balanced. They should also not contain any statements that discriminate against anybody. If there is something you see, hear or read that discriminates against someone or offends you, you are entitled to complain to the relevant offices.
When do you complain or compliment?
Remember the following three words and what they mean when reading a newspaper or listening to or watching the news. You should complain when you think that something is printed or aired that discriminates against a group of people, or when someone’s rights have been violated. If you notice that a programme goes out of its way to avoid these three things, you might want to send a compliment to media.
Discrimination - This is a broad term and is used when people are treated badly because they have a different skin colour, religion, gender. Or suffer from an illness or disability. When discrimination occurs based on race this is called racism. For example, if Thandi who is a black girl is not allowed to go to school where white children learn that is discrimination.
Stereotypes - A stereotype groups a lot of people together and assumes things about them. This is often a negative and untrue belief about a person or a group of people. Stereotypes are linked to prejudice and discrimination, for example that all boys are stupid.
Human rights violation - A human rights violation happens when basic rights, such as your right to life (to carry on living as opposed to dying), or your right to equality (to be treated the same as other people), are not respected. For example, if your friend is abused and she is named in the media or if her parents are named then that is a violation of her rights to privacy and dignity.
How do you compliment?
If you want pass a compliment about something you saw in the newspaper you need to note the name of the newspaper, the date and page on which it appeared and also what the article was about. You also need to write down three reasons why you thought what you read was good.
If you want pass a compliment about something you saw or heard on the television or radio you need to note down the channel or name of the radio station, the date and the time you heard the information. You also need to write down reasons why you thought it was good.
For example:
Lerato was reading the “Daily Express” on the 28 August 2003. On page 3 of the newspaper she read an article about a 9 year old girl who was molested by her teacher. In the article they gave a different name for the girl and didn’t say what school she attended. The newspaper used a picture of the girl playing, from behind and you could not see her face and no one would be able to recognise her. Also in this article it was clear that the girl wanted to talk about what happened to her and she was not hurt by the interview, which took place with her mother there. The story condemns child abuse and refers to it as a big problem in the country.
If you see something like this, then you might want to compliment the newspaper. This is what you need to do:
Step 1
Write the name of the newspaper down.
In this example it would be The Daily Express.
Step 2
Write the date of the newspaper.
The date would be 28 August 2003.
Step 3
Write the page on which it the article appeared.
The article appeared on page 3.
Step 4
Write the headline.
The headline was “Child molested by teacher”.
Step 5
Write a short summary.
The story was about a nine year old girl who was molested by her teacher.
Step 6
Give three reasons why you liked the article.
For example, you could say that it was good that they didn’t show the girl’s face, that you liked how they used the case to highlight the problem of child abuse in the country, and that the girl got to tell people what happened to her in a way that didn’t make her more sad.
Step 7
Send us an email at MMA and we will help write your letter and send it for you. (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))
How do you complain?
If you are going to complain about something you saw in the newspaper you need to note the name of the newspaper, the date and page on which it appeared and also what the article was about. You also need to write down three reasons why you thought what you read was bad.
If you are going to complain about something you saw or heard on the television or radio you need to note down the channel or name of the radio station, the date and the time you heard the information. You also need to write down reasons why you thought it was bad.
For example:
Lerato was reading the “Daily Express” on the 28 August 2003. On page 3 of the newspaper she read an article about a 9 year old girl who was molested by her teacher. In the article they named the girl and the school she attended. The newspaper also used a picture of the girl sitting next to her mother. Also in this article there was a lot of detail about how the girl was molested and the journalist blamed the girl for what had happened to her.
If you see something like this, then you need to complain. This is what you need to do:
Step 1
Write the name of the newspaper down.
In this example it would be The Daily Express.
Step 2
Write the date of the newspaper.
The date would be 28 August 2003.
Step 3
Write the page on which it the article appeared.
The article appeared on page 3.
Step 4
Write the headline.
The headline was “Child molested by teacher”.
Step 5
Write a short summary.
The story was about a nine year old girl who was molested by her teacher.
Step 6
Give three reasons why you did not like the article.
For example you could say that showing the face of the child was not in her best interests, that the language used may have been too detailed or that the journalist blamed the girl for what had happened to her.
Step 7
Send us an email at MMA and we will help write your letter and send it for you. (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))
There are two offices in South Africa where you can lodge a complaint. The first place is the Office of the Press Ombudsman. You can write a letter of complaint to him telling him why you found an article in a newspaper bad.
The second place you can complain to is the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA). You can write a letter of complaint to them telling them why you found something bad that you saw on a television bulletin or heard on a radio station.
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