Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) awards a GLAD1 to the Daily Sun and Sowetan for their responsible coverage of children involved in Satanism, a heightening problem in schools where learners are used to recruit other learners to join the cult. The two journalists from the Daily Sun and Sowetan, Giyani Shivambo and Ntwaagae Seleka respectively reveal the mystery behind the satanic cult and how schoolchildren are a prime target. These articles showed good journalism when reporting on this issue by hiding the identity of the children involved and further giving them a voice.
The first article, “Prayer for my brother” by the Daily Sun (25/03/2014, p. 7) is about a 13 year old boy from Tembisa who was forcefully recruited into Satanism by his schoolmate and how his older sister is appealing to “church leaders” to pray for him.
The second article, “l drank my cousin’s blood, says teen” by the Sowetan (24/03/2014, p. 6) is about a 15 year old Bekkersdal girl who confessed about her initiation into Satanism and how her involvement in the cult has caused conflict in her family.
Extensive efforts were made to protect the children’s identities in these articles. Both journalists refrained from naming the children or their relatives sourced in the articles. The Daily Sun for example, demonstrated their awareness of journalistic principles that guide reporting on children by stating in the article that the sister “can’t be named to protect both their identities.” The faces of the boy and his sister are not shown in the picture accompanying the article. Likewise the Sowetanused a dark shaded image and blurred out the child‘s face beyond recognition.
By doing this, the journalists upheld one of MMA’s most crucial editorial guideline for reporting on children2 which calls for the identity children to be hidden where they might be at risk. The guideline states that “no stories or images must be published that might put the child, their siblings or peers at risk even when identities are changed, obscured or not used”.
The articles also adhered to Section 8.1 of the Press Code, which states “The press shall therefore exercise exceptional care and consideration when reporting about children under the age of 18”. This kind of reporting is encouraged as it shows the journalists’ caution and maximum effort to protect the identities of the children as required by the ethical standards of journalistic practice.
Accessing children in news stories is of prime importance and MMA encourages the media to give children a voice on issues that affect them. Both articles have accessed the children; the Daily Sunquoted the child saying “a classmate forced him to join the cult.” Similarly, the Sowetan’s journalist, Seleka gave the child a chance to tell her own story throughout the article, allowing her to provide in depth details about her initiation to the cult.
In as much as MMA delights at the responsible reporting of children involved in Satanism in the two articles, there is room for improvement. We urge both newspapers to not overlook the ultimate role of the media which is to educate and inform. In this regard, minimum efforts were made in both articles to report in depth and further explore the underlying issues that prompt children to join Satanism and what could be done to prevent the widespread recruitment of children in this cult. Written this way, the journalists could have provided the readers with empowering information.
1. On a weekly basis, MMA highlights cases of good practice, where the media has promoted the rights and welfare of children, otherwise referred to as “GLADs”, as well as instances where the rights and welfare of children have been compromised through irresponsible media coverage, referred to as “MADs↩
2. These guidelines have been compiled with the input of children, journalists, editors and various media practitioners for African media. They offer practical tips for media professionals on how to report and interview children. They can be found here: https://www.mediamonitoringafrica.org/images/uploads/A5_Booklet_final_lowres_01.pdf↩