It is sad when children cannot go to school because of issues hindering their access to schools. When the media do report these issues, children affected should be able to voice out their concerns in the coverage. Sadly, that was not the case in an article by GroundUp titled, “KZN learners miss school because they can’t cross the river” (08/04/2022). Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) selected the article as a Missed Opportunity[1] for not interviewing the children involved.  

The article is about learners in Kwa-Zulu Natal who cannot go to school due to heavy rains that have made it impossible for them to cross a river.  It is stated in the article that children who attend Emakhabeleni Primary and Gcotoi High schools often miss classes and even exams.

In the story, the journalist accesses a school governing body member and a taxi driver but not the children who are the central focus of this story. This, despite the children being present in the image accompanying the story. The failure to include children’s voices unfortunately made the story come short of being a great one. Children’s voices should be added always to coverage about issues facing them if doing that is in the best interests of the children.

The population of children in South Africa stands at 37 million according to Statistics South Africa[2] and yet only a very small percentage of children get to feature and speak in the media. MMA analysed media’s coverage of children in 2021[3] and findings revealed that in that same year, the media only reported on children and issues facing them in 10% of all news coverage. Worse is that the children only spoke in 7% of this coverage

MMA’s Editorial Guidelines and Principles for Reporting on Children in the Media[4] encourage journalists to include children’s views on matters that affect them as children have the right to have their views heard.

We therefore encourage GroundUp to continue reporting on issues affecting children and to let them share their perspectives.

Written by Msizi Mzolo

Edited by Lister Namumba

[1]  A missed opportunity is a story in which, for instance, children should have been accessed but are not.

[2]  http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0302/P03022020.pdf

[3] https://mediamonitoringafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Childrens-Report-2021.pdf

[4] http://54.217.43.239/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/mma_editorial_guideline.pdf