Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) is delighted to award News24 a GLAD[1] for its ethical reporting involving a child victim of abuse.
The story titled, “Cape Town mom, friend sentenced to jail for abuse, neglect of 2-year-old girl” (News24, 22/07/2021) by Tammy Petersen reports on a two-year-old girl who was abused by her mother and her mother’s friend. According to the article, the child was rescued by a local woman. It is reported that the child was found with bruises and burn marks on her body and that the mother and her friend were arrested, convicted and respectively sentenced to 10 and five years in prison for child abuse and neglect.
The article doesn’t reveal the identity of the child or her mother, which is good journalism practice when it comes to reporting about such issues involving children. Further, it is mentioned in the article that the identity of the mother cannot be mentioned in order to protect the identity of the child, another qualifying criteria for a GLAD. Great work, Tammy Petersen!
The withholding of the child’s identity is in line with MMA’S Editorial Guidelines and Principles for Reporting on Children in the Media which encourage the protection of children’s identities especially when they are victims of abuse. The Guidelines further urge the media to always respect children’s dignity and well-being and to ensure that the actions of the journalists do not subject the children to harm, including potential harm.[2]
By not interviewing the child, the journalist is also commended for ensuring that the child is not exposed to potential further trauma that might come as a result of being made to relive what she went through.
News24 evidently reported this story in a manner that is in the best interest of the child involved as supported by Section 28 (2) of the Bill of Rights of the South African Constitution.
We applaud the journalist and News24 for cautiously reporting an incident involving a child. Keep up the good work of ensuring that children are safe in your coverage!
Written by Yinhla Ngobeni
Edited by Lister Namumba
[1] GLADs are awarded to media for reporting on children in a responsible manner
[2] http://54.217.43.239/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/mma_editorial_guideline.pdf
The following is News24’s response to our commentary;
Following our last exchange this is fantastic news.
Ethical, caring journalism is really important and I’m glad to see that we got it right this time.