Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) awards a GLAD[1] to The New Age for publishing a story in which a young girl who has a promising future as an author is profiled and accessed.

“Published author at 10 years old” The New Age (06/06/2017, p.2) talks about Stacey Fru, a 10-year-old who is preparing to launch two books. According to the article, her first book titled “Smelly Cats” came out in 2015 and was followed by her second book “Bob And The Snake” in 2016. The journalist reports that at the age of eight, Stacey also won first prize at the 2016 NDA for the best ECD publication. The article is accompanied by a lovely photograph of the child with a bright smile.

Stacey is also interviewed in the article and talks about her achievements and ambitions. She is quoted saying, “This is all for inspiration and the love of our children, our future. People should come out in their numbers so that they can be inspired by the child from their own neighbourhood, who has managed to publish two books by the age of 10.”

The journalist, Siyabonga Sithole, further reports that Stacey was also the recipient of the Young Leader 2016 award and that the young writer’s talents are not limited to writing as she is also a ballerina and a motivational speaker. MMA applauds media that tell stories where children are seen as the leaders of tomorrow. We therefore congratulate the journalist and The New Age for this inspiring story which will surely inspire other children all over South Africa.

We hope to read more of such articles in the future as children’s voices need to be heard.

By Jacques Ndong

[1] A GLAD refers to an article where the rights and welfare of children have been promoted.