News - MMA in the Media
- Capturing a tragedy
Violent events are an everyday feature for the media in SA. It may be argued that certain horrific visuals are necessary to report the reality of violent events, such as the recent xenophobic attacks.
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- Dead bodies in media: gruesome or your right?
In a problematic society such as South Africa, where the media have their hands full in reporting on violent crime, it is not surprising to see gruesome visuals of dead bodies in media, to the dismay of sensitive viewers and readers. While editors argue that their audiences have the right to see and to be ‘fully informed’, the Media Monitoring Project (MMP) this week says ethical considerations should guide the use of visuals of dead bodies in media.
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- Sanef to appeal to Mbeki on Media bill
The South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) is sticking its guns and will proceed with an urgent submission to the president regarding the constitutionality of the “controversial” Films Publications Amendment Bill.
Read the full article that appeared in the Weekender on September 20, 2008.
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- Media challenges Divorce Act in the Constitutional Court
The Constitutional Court has reserved judgment on a ban prohibiting journalists from reporting on divorce cases.
Earlier this year, the Cape High Court ruled that Section 12 of the Divorce Act was unconstitutional after media group Johncorn (now Avusa) brought an application challenging it.
Read the full article that appeared in The Star on September 09, 2008.
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- South Africas Leading Newspaper Disputes Allegations of Reporting Irresponsibly on Xenophobia
On 29 May 2008 the Media Monitoring Project (MMP) and its partner, the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (CoRMSA), filed an official complaint with the press ombudsman Joe Thloloe and the South African Human Rights Commission against the country’s leading daily newspaper, the Daily Sun. The newspaper, which has a readership base of 4.8 million people or a quarter of the adult population in the country, has been accused of having an anti-immigrant bias that has exacerbated tensions between normally friendly ethnic groups.
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