Daily Voice: Empowering Voices
Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) awards a GLAD[1] to Daily voice for their story involving children in sports. The journalist behind the story gives a child a voice to tell her story and how passionate she is about netball.
In an article titled, “Netballer needs help” (30/05/2024,) reports on Norline Vryster, a netball star. A twelve-year-old who has been selected to play at a Western Province championship in Riversdal taking place from 1-3 July in the Western Cape. However, Norline needs R5,000 to cover her traveling and accommodation for three days.
Norline’s mother was quoted in the article speaking about how excited she is about the achievement of her child and how she is doing everything she can to raise the money so her daughter can attend the tournament. A proud mother was quoted saying “She plays for the first team, and I am very proud of her. She is also good academically and is always in the top ten at her school Eikendal Primary, where she is now in Grade 6.”
The article also reverses the misconception that children, mainly girls from disadvantaged backgrounds hardly participate in sports, thus encouraging children to reach for the sky. The ‘article is also occupied by a happy picture of the child wearing a netball jersey.
Most significantly, the journalist gives the 12-year-old the opportunity to speak for herself and to tell her own story, the reporter respects her rights to give her views on matters affecting her and to freedom of expression. The child was quoted saying “When I was little, I saw my mom playing and I’ve always wanted to follow in her footsteps. I play goal defense and they tell me I am good,”
This is in line with best practice when reporting on children including MMA’s Ethical Guidelines and Principles for Reporting on Children in the Media which have been endorsed by Press Council.
MMA encourages journalists to challenge all stereotypes about children especially the ones that suggest that children are passive members of society. Editorial Guidelines and Principles for Reporting on Children in the Media developed by MMA with input from media and children emphasise that reporters must “Children have a right to have their views heard on matters that affect them, so try and include them”[2]
MMA urges Daily Voice to continue reporting on stories about children, celebrate their achievements, and most importantly, access their opinions.
Written By Ntsako Manganyi
Edited by Ntombifuthi Kubeka
[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