The Media Monitoring Project (MMP) applauds City Press for publishing an article that relates to the facilitation and fulfilment of children’s rights to education and an adequate standard of living. The article, “Feeding the nation one child at a time”(City Press, 21/09/08, p.26 [1]), by Lumka Oliphant, is about two remarkable women who ensure that the pupils at their local primary school are fed. The article is to be particularly commended for accessing the views of children.

According to the article, the education department, through its school feeding programmes, provides the school with mealie-meal and soup only. The two women not only cook for the pupils, but also go out of their way to collect recyclable scraps and sell these to a nearby recycling centre in order to buy oil, vegetables and meat to supplement the pupils’ meals.

Previous research by MMP reveals that children and children’s issues are not a key element of news agendas (Daya, B. et al, 2004[2]) . When children do appear in news stories, they are often portrayed as quintessential passive and hopeless victims of crime, violence and abuse [3].

The City Press article also depicts pupils at the primary school as victims of poverty.

However, the reporter focuses more on the local women’s response to the needs of the children and the children’s perspective on the women’s actions.

By doing this, the emphasis is on what can be done to facilitate and fulfil the children’s rights to education and an adequate standard of living, rather than solely focusing on the problem [4].

MMP research, and ongoing monitoring of newspapers, also reveals that while there may be stories about children, children are rarely accessed for their opinion (Daya, B. et al, 2004[2]). In addition, children are given a limited opportunity to represent themselves, to exercise their right to participation, and to express their views and opinions in matters that affect them (Daya, B. et al, 2004[2]).

It is most significant, then, that in contrast, the City Press article provides children with the opportunity to speak for themselves about their hopes and fears. By giving the opportunity to children to speak for themselves, the reporter both shows respect for their rights and views, and reminds the public of how children experience poverty (Media Monitoring Project, 2008 [5]).

As part of the MMP’s Empowering Children and the Media Strategy, children provided their views on the article. When asked about how the article made them feel and why, one said s/he felt excited and glad because “it does not violate the rights of the children”. Another one, when asked whether the story clearly protects or violates children’s rights said; “It has protected the children’s rights and has also [shown] us what children’s rights [are] (Children’s Workshop, 23/09/08).

This shows that children appreciate when journalists write stories that encourage the facilitation and fulfillment of children’s rights.

Although it was great for City Press to access the children for their views and opinions, it was not in the best interests of the children to be fully named and photographed. This could violate their rights to dignity and privacy and lead to stigmatisation by others. In particular, the child who is quoted in the article as saying, “My parents do not work and we sometimes do not have food at home so I’d rather come to school than stay at home and eat nothing”, could get in trouble from his parents for revealing that they are not able to provide for him.

MMP congratulates City Press and Lumpka Olipant for publishing such a story, particularly for accessing the children’s views. We however emphasise that the best interests of each child should be protected over any other consideration, including advocacy for children’s issues and the promotion of child rights more broadly [6].

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Footnotes

  1. To see a PDF version of the article, click on the name of the article. Names and faces of children have been concealed to protect their identities.
2. Daya, B., Vreenogoor, B., Bird, W. & Harries, G. 2004. Children: Dying to Make the News: An analysis of children’s coverage in the South African news media. Media Monitoring Project: Johannesburg, p.9.
3. Media Monitoring Project. 2004. Children’s Views on the News. Media Monitoring Project: Johannesburg, p. 8.
4. See articles 27 and 28 of theUnited Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989, entered into force 1990), which South Africa is a signatory to.
5. See Media Monitoring Project. 2008. Editorial Guidelines and Principles for Reporting on Children in the Media: A Snapshot of Children in Zambia News. Media Monitoring Project: Johannesburg, p. 9.
6. UNICEF and Media Monitoring Project. 2003. All sides of the story. Reporting on children: A journalist’s handbook, p. 11.