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Category: Children [REMOVE]
- Children play Star-ring roles reporting on Confederations Cup
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For Youth Day on 16 June 2009 The Star undertook a novel project to have children write on the Confederations Cup. In the Youth Day edition of the newspaper, the project took the front page, in the article “Budding reporters were on the ball” by Jabulile Ngwenya, which included a quote from one of the children. The stories, under the headline “Confederations Cup: Ke nako for SA youth”, were published in the paper, taking up a full page (16/06/09, p. 8). This initiative got them nominated for a MAD OAT Glad award.
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- Media has its own legal and ethical responsibilities towards children
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Saturday Star’s article, “Schoolboys to answer to severe assault charges” (13/06/09, p. 4) is one to get mad about. The article was about a 14-year old boy who was allegedly severely assaulted and robbed on a school bus, after school, by other learners. His mother reported the incident to the police, and opened a complaint of assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Saturday Star directly identified the child who is a child witness. In doing so, they contravened the Criminal Procedure Act, and failed to protect the best interests of the child.
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- Saturday Star takes government to task on child abuse
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During Child Protection Week, Deputy Police Minister Fikile Mbalula announced that the new administration was considering re-introducing specialised units to deal with child abuse cases. In the wake of this announcement, Candice Bailey explores the police’s capacity to deal with child abuse cases in the article “Child abuse is a specific crime” (Saturday Star, 06/06/09, p. 15). Accompanied by a photograph of a child victim of rape, which protects the child’s identity, the article is written from a child rights perspective, reiterating that child abuse is a priority crime that cannot be treated like any other. Bailey accesses a number of expert sources, looking at the problems, as well as solutions, posed by the government’s restructuring of the police units. Thus the article deserves a glad nomination.
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- City Press educates about child carers
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Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) would like to commend City Press and Mokgadi Seabi for the article “Surviving a hellish life with parents” (07/06/08, p. 35) which addresses the issue of children who become carers to parents with drug or alcohol abuse problems. It was nominated for a MAD OAT Glad for addressing an issue affecting many children, in terms of their development and well-being.
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- “An Act of Compassion” in covering child justice
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Mail & Guardian is arguably South Africa’s premier newspaper when it comes to issues of social development. Despite this, children seldom feature in the pages of the newspaper (although education often does). This is unfortunate considering that children are a significant and growing portion of our population and development issues affect children sometimes most acutely. However the edition published on 29 May 2009 covers the Child Justice Act, an important piece of legislation, which generally garnered little coverage elsewhere.
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- City Press highlights the possibility of adoption
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City Press’ “Open your heart and your home” (24/05/09, p. 34) addresses a subject seldom touched on in the news media - adoption. The article, written by Refiloe Serai, is one to be glad of.
This article is well-researched, accesses a number of sources, gives practical advice and is generally a great piece. Media Monitoring Africa commends both City Press and Refiloe Serai and hopes that many children will get homes through this article.
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- Sensitivity is key to reporting on abuse
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The Citizen and CNS have violated the rights to dignity and privacy of a teenager who was allegedly assaulted by the police for loitering. The story, titled “Mad over cop hiding” (The Citizen, 29/05/09, p. 8), by news agency CNS, showed a picture of the teenager’s bruised buttocks with his name and age written in the caption. While the article was provided by an agency, both the agency and the newspaper share responsibilities for ensuring that children’s rights are protected.
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- Children affected by strikes too
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The metro bus strikes, and other strikes, in May 2009, have affected many in these trying times of global recession, including children. In reporting on these strikes, City Press’s Lumka Oliphant (“We’re sitting on ticking time bombs”, 24/05/09, p. 5) and Sowetan’s Gertrude Makhfola (“Commuters feel the pinch”, 20/05/09 p. 7) do not exclude children.
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- Celebrity maintenance stories can cause harm to children
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Gossip and juicy stories about celebrities may entertain some, but the media need to be especially careful reporting where celebrity’s children are involved Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) is concerned about four stories recently published in Sowetan about two male celebrities who failed to pay maintenance for their children (“[ ] in maintenance row”, 23/04/09, p. 3; “Ex-lover drops bombshell against actor”, 13/05/09, p. 3; “Bounced out of the high life”, 15/05/09, p. 10; “Is ‘sick’ [ ] evading court?”, 19/05/09, p. 3). In all four instances Sowetan is guilty of violating the rights to privacy and dignity of the children involved by publishing the details of their parents.
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- Children’s health an important issue for investigation – The Star shows
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Media Monitoring Africa nominates The Star for a MAD OAT glad award for its two articles “Drastic action on baby milk” (13/05/09, p. 3) and “Under spending robs thousands of children of vaccinations” (12/05/09, p. 5) by Louise Flanagan. The media coverage reveals to the public how government spending can impact negatively on children, and holds the government to account in its responsibilities and commitments.
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