Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) awards The Saturday Star a GLAD[1] for the article titled, “Cape Town teenager teams up with SA artists to create song which calls for the healing of the planet” (12/03/2022). This is because the article portrays the child in a positive way and accesses him.
The article is about Quinley Wild, a 13-year-old boy from Cape Town who is passionate about nature and is focussed on doing his part to help the environment. According to the article, in an effort to make people aware of issues around the environment, he has teamed up with famous artists to launch his own music video called SOS (Save Our Soil).
The 13-year-old says in the article, “I am going to be an adult one day, and if there is no food growing and famine, my life will be terrible, a real struggle, and if I have children what will their lives be like? We have to make sure we have healthy soil to grow food and lots of trees to shade the earth and reduce carbon footprints.”
The child is not only portrayed positively as a child with agency but is also extensively accessed throughout the article. MMA commends the journalist for adding the child’s voice to the article as this is empowering.
By accessing the child, The Saturday Star has adhered to MMA’s Editorial Guidelines and Principles for Reporting on Children in the Media.[2] The Guidelines advise the media to include children’s voices to stories about them especially when in the children’s best interest.
MMA also commends The Saturday Star for reporting a topic that is rarely reported in the media. MMA’s 2021 media monitoring of children in the media found that the topic, environment was one of the least covered topics in that year by the media at 0%.[3]
Well done, The Saturday Star! We encourage you to continue reporting on stories involving children and giving them a chance to share their views and experience.
Written by Msizi Mzolo
Edited by Lister Namumba
[1] A GLAD is awarded for an article that reports about children in a positive way
[2] http://54.217.43.239/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/mma_editorial_guideline.pdf
[3] https://mediamonitoringafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Childrens-Report-2021.pdf