Media Analysis
Media Monitoring Africa releases periodic media analysis pieces looking at current issues in the media though a human rights lens.
Category: Children [REMOVE]
- Back to School… An opportunity wasted?
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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.
- Seeing dead people: Exploring visuals of dead bodies in the media
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Violent events are an every day feature for the media in South Africa. However, media can report on these events in various ways. The Media Monitoring Project explores ethical considerations which should guide the use visuals to report on horrific events. In particular, this update will be looking at visuals used of dead bodies. Alternative representations of the dead are then suggested.
- Crime according to Beeld: Fear in Black and White
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Extreme news sells. Items that are different from everyday life, items that disturb people. Crime is therefore a good subject for newspapers’ front pages from a commercial point of view. Unfortunately, crime in South Africa is not just a creation of the national media. It is a very real problem. And although most statistics suggest decreasing figures, some specific forms of criminality have become more common.
- Lazy newsgathering distorted murder news
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As a reader of Daily Sun newspaper, you will very possibly have a different understanding of what recently happened in Zandspruit, Honeydew than if you were a reader of The Star. The angle these two newspapers took on the story of the 7-year old girl who was found dead on the 10th March 2008 allow for an interesting comparison. The Star focused on the accusations that the police failed to act on several phone calls from the family to report the missing girl. Daily Sun however did not mention this at all and limited its reporting to describing the incident, making the reaction of people to the police completely unfathomable. These stories gives a clear example of the necessity of balanced reporting.
- Wailing women on e-tv news
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In the month of August, Women’s Month, the Media Monitoring Project (MMP) monitored the media with a specific focus on the portrayal of women. This is part of MMP’s work as an independent media watchdog, fundamentally concerned with promoting Human Rights in the media. During the monitoring of the news bulletins it appeared the women were often shown crying to add drama to the various stories.
- Media Coverage of Children during Youth Month
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Considering Youth Month provides ample opportunity to highlight issues around children, the Media Monitoring Project (MMP) wished to assess whether this was happening in South African media and if the coverage either violated or enhanced human rights of the children concerned.
- The ethics of 16 Days Media coverage
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During 2006 the Media Monitoring Project analysed coverage of the 16 days campaign to examine whether media upheld generally accepted media ethical principles. The findings show that, in covering the Campaign stories, the media most commonly violates the principle to do no harm, frequently by identifying the victim and exposing them to potential further abuse and victimisation.
- New publications bill still a threat to media freedom
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The Media Monitoring Project (MMP) has been petitioning government to change the proposed Film and Publications Amendment Bill. While it is crucial to protect the rights of children, the MMP argues that the Bill has negative implications for media freedom in South Africa. Amongst other things, it is trying to get the country’s newspaper’s to self-regulate. Chakula spoke to William Bird, the Director of the MMP, and Sandra Roberts, a Project Co-ordinator at the organisation.
- Reporting on disabilities: Too little, too limited
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People with disabilities constitute a considerable part of the South African population, yet coverage pertaining to people with a disability is very low and very limited in the media. In the few instances that this population groups is reported on, the coverage fails to raise the rights of the disabled and actually perpetuates societal stereotypes.
- … in every matter concerning the child
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On the 21st of March, all people in South Africa celebrate Human Rights Day which commemorates the Sharpville massacre of 1960 and the signing of the Constitution. This is the same Constitution that guarantees the rights of children. In fact, Article 28.2 says ‘A child’s best interests are of paramount importance in every matter concerning the child’.
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