Children’s voices matter too
It is imperative for the media to understand the impact they have in representing all types of individuals, particularly children. Daily Sun and Ground Up missed an opportunity [1] to involve children’s voices in articles that involved children.
In an article by Daily Sun titled, “Donation lights up future cricket stars” (25/04/2024) talks about an initiative that was launched by DP World, in partnership with the Lions Cricket team. The initiative gave school children in rural and township areas cricket kits and equipment, the purpose for this is to make cricket accessible to all school children.
The children in the pictures looked excited but were denied access to voice out their excitement about receiving these donations. Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) is of the view that if the media are going to report stories that have a central focus on children, then the children must be extensively quoted to share their perspectives. Of course, this must be done only when it is in the children’s best interest to speak.
The following articleby Ground Up titled, “Hollywood star joins yoga classes for Lavender Hill learners” (25/04/2024) is about a Hollywood star that helped raise money to build a classroom for yoga. It is said that children are taught yoga, mindfulness and life skills, worm farming and organic gardening. They take the children on hikes, offer leadership training to older learners, and also teacher training.
Similar to Daily Sun, Ground Up also failed to give school children a voice in the story despite it being about them. While the article portrays the children positively and is accompanied by bright pictures of the children smiling and participating, it does not include their views.
The two articles report on a positive issue involving children should have made the two journalists add the children’s perspective. Doing so would have further added more value to the stories.
It’s essential to recognise that South Africa is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).[2] Article 12 of the Convention emphasises that “a child capable of forming their own opinions has the right to express those opinions in all matters affecting them, and to have their views given due weight in accordance with their age and maturity”. South Africa signed the Convention in 1993 and ratified it on the 16th of June 1995.[3] Therefore, including a statement from children would have transcended the articles to great journalism as best practice when reporting on children would have been employed.
MMA urges both Daily Sun and Ground Up to continue reporting stories about children and their well-being but to ensure that children are afforded an opportunity to express their views, feelings and experiences.
Written by Msizi Mzolo
Edited by Ntombifuthi Kubeka
[1] A missed opportunity is a story in which children, for instance, should have been accessed but were not.
[2] https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child
[3] https://www.unicef.org/southafrica/media/1431/file/ZAF-Periodic-country-report-on-the-UN-CRC-2014.pdf