All Resources
- The Times praises child hero
-
The front-page article “Girl, 11, saves friends from deadly blaze” published in The Times (10/02/2010) is about an 11 year-old girl who saved a number of fellow orphans from a blazing building. The story by Teneshia Naidoo is one to be glad of.
- World Cup clean-up impacts homeless children
-
The Mail & Guardian report “Rounded up and shipped out” (22/01/2010, p. 4) by Niren Tolsi stands out for the way it highlights children’s rights in the midst of the World Cup fever. The report gives a voice to street children, who are rarely made visible in media reports, and provides insight in the complex nature of the challenges they face and how government chooses to address these in the build up to the World Cup.
- Cape Times identifies child witness
-
The article, “Boy imitates mom’s murder” (Cape Times, 04/02/2010, p. 6) is one to be mad about. The story talks about how a three-year-old boy witnessed his father shoot and kill his mother and two other men before hijacking three cars.
- Children have agency as The Times show
-
Children are often reported on in a very limited way as “innocents” or silent “victims” . However, The Times article (“Pupils still waiting for school”, 20/01/2010, p. 5) by Zandile Mbabela gave children a voice and portrayed them as active citizens rather than passive recipients of adult behaviour. For this, The Times deserve was picked as the MAD OAT Glad for the week..
- Back to School… An opportunity wasted?
-
The first day of school always gets media attention, with coverage of how children react to going to school for the first time. The day offers the opportunity to cover children taking a big step in their lives. Past coverage has included many images to show children’s reaction to this event. In the interest of children’s rights in the media, various print mediums were examined during the first week of schools opening for 2010 (13-17 January 2010), to explore the coverage dedicated to the event.
- MMA response to the Public Broadcasting Bill
-
MMA submission on the Public Broadcasting Bill expresses deep concern about many of the aspects of the Bill, including its economic viability and constitutionality. The response requested more research into the viability of the Bill.
Key areas of concern addressed in the submission are:
- The funding model seems to be inadequate, and it is unclear whether sufficient research has been done on the feasibility and economic impact of the proposed change in funding.
- The Minister’s of Communications’ powers in the proposed Bill, which undermine the independence of the SABC itself, as well as the democratic role of Parliament.
- Legal issues, such as the need to amend several laws, such as the SABC charter changing, the mandate of the Media Diversity and Development Agency (MDDA) and aspects of the Constitution, and the.
- The lack of proper consultation, and far too limited time to do proper research by stakeholders; since the Bill is a complete overhaul of existing legislation, a two month period, over the December holidays, and lack of clear communication by the Department itself, does not constitute proper consultation
- Children’s Views Not in the News: Portrayal of Children in South African Print Media 2009
-
Monitoring conducted by Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) in 2003 as part of the Empowering Children & the Media (ECM) strategy showed that only 6% of all news included children. The latest data to emerge from the ECM reveals that representation of children has improved, marginally, to 8.4% of all news monitored in 2009. The monitoring shows that not only are children’s issues frequently sidelined, but un-careful and unethical reporting often leads to further violations of their rights.
- Sunday Sun hows editorial commitment to ending child abuse
-
The editorial by Themba Khumalo, “Maiming a child’s spirit is the worst of all sins” in the Sunday Sun (29/11/2009, pg. 14) was one to be glad about. The editorial talked about the pain, hurt and suffering that children go through without having several basic rights such as the right to dignity, parental care, food and emotional support. This is demonstrated in the editorial by using a case study of a little girl who was a victim of child abuse.
- Daily Sun identifies child witnesses and disregards their grief
-
Three child witnesses were identified in an article published by the Daily Sun about a nine-year-old boy who hid his two younger brothers, in order to protect them from their enraged father. The article, entitled “Ibhavu of life” (23/11/2009, p.2), received a MAD OAT Mad nomination, wrapping up the MAD OAT nominations for the year, around one of Media Monitoring Africa’s (MMA) concerns in 2009 - the identification of child witnesses.
- Race and Migration in the Community Media: Local stories, common stereotypes
-
In South Africa, racism and xenophobia, widely recognised as human rights violations, are particularly pertinent. A long history of institutionalised racism, most recently apartheid, saw the classification, segregation and discrimination of people along racial lines. It has shaped perceptions, attitudes, identities, and relationships, and left a legacy of inequality. In May 2008, xenophobia came starkly to the public’s attention, in the form of violence targeted at perceived “foreigners”, making local, national and international headlines. However, negative and discriminatory attitudes and behaviour towards migrants, or xenophobia, have long been documented as widespread and problematic in South Africa. Black immigrants in particular are victims of xenophobic attitudes and treatment.
For many South Africans, community and small commercial media are not only important sources of information for communities about issues affecting them, which may include racism and xenophobia, but also about “groups” of people that they may not come into contact with. While research has helped establish how the national and provincial media cover issues of race, racism, migrants and xenophobia, little information is available about coverage by community and small commercial media. To address this need, Media Monitoring Africa conducted research into how issues of race, ethnicity, migrants, racism and xenophobia are represented in community and small commercial newspapers.
Categories
Subscribe
Keep up to date with the latest MMA news and resources, delivered to your email inbox.
