Amplifying the Voice of the Child in the News is Essential
“Children make up about one quarter of the world’s population. Yet, when reporting on children’s issues, journalists often treat them as supporting or peripheral players to the adults, or victims with no independence or voice” [1]. Saturday Star missed an opportunity (MOP)[2] by neglecting the voice of a child in a news story that directly impacts them. Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) advocates for the media to actively include children’s voices in stories that affect them.
In an article that highlights the educational crises of classroom overcrowding by dissecting the challenges faced by Cosmo City Junior Primary School, Saturday Star shines a necessary spotlight on the difficulties educators and learners encounter daily as they go about the process of learning.
The story titled; Challenges faced by Cosmo City Junior Primary School reveal the grim reality of South Africa’s education crisis (08/02/2025) reports on the issue of school overcrowding in the context of the Presidents’ State of the Nation Adress (SONA) where he recommitted to addressing the some of the most pertinent facing schools.
In the article, the report assesses representation from the relevant government bodies, political parties and concerned parents. However, the article neglects the most important voice affected by this issue – that of the learner. Principle no 4 of the UNICEF’s guidelines for journalists reporting on children urges reporters to consider the best interests of a child by giving due regard to “the child’s right to have their views taken into account in accordance with their age and maturity.” [3] This could have been achieved by interviewing a learner from the school in a more senior grade or accessing the voices of learners and children who experience similar conditions in different regions or schools.
MMA would like to encourage Saturday Star and its reporters to prioritise children’s best interests by ensuring that their views are considered in matters that affect them. Incorporating children’s perspectives enhances news stories and contributes towards a just, more democratic society where every voice is acknowledged and respected.
We look forward to seeing more stories that highlight children’s issues.
Written by Tumelo Hlaka
Edited by Ntombifuthi Kubeka
[1] Guide for Reporting on Early Childhood – Dart Centre
[2] A missed opportunity (MOP) is a story in which, for instance, children should have been accessed but are not.