At a seminar on ‘Media and Child Rights’ conducted by the Asian College of Journalism in association with UNICEF, the ethics of reporting, the dilemmas journalists face while writing on issues related to children, and on where greater focus needs to be were discussed.
At the first session, ‘Do children’s issues act as fodder for the media’, panelists including child rights researcher Vidya Sagar Ramamurthy spoke about the need to widen perspective — to ensure reporting was also from the perspective of the child. Vipul Mudgal, director, Inclusive Media for Change, pointed out that no matter what was done, there would always be the feeling among some that no issue had been adequately covered, and added that sometimes what might seem like cherry picking or making of fodder, was simply an attempt to connect with the reader over an issue. He also stressed the importance of connecting the dots in reporting, highlighting one issue and linking it with something bigger. Ramya Kannan, Chief of Bureau, Tamil Nadu, The Hindu said that when it came to revealing details about a child that had been in a violent situation, it had to be taken on a case to case basis. Writer and journalist Nandini Krishnan spoke about the need for reporters to be trained to speak to children and to also be aware and acknowledge that children could be victims, but sometimes perpetrators too.
A. S. Panneerselvam, Readers’ Editor, The Hindu moderated the session.
At the second panel, journalists from the print and online media, including Dhanya Rajendran, editor, The Newsminute , and Zubeda Hamid, of The Hindu , along with Vidya Reddy, founder, Tulir, Centre for the Prevention and Healing of Child Sexual Abuse weighed in on walking the fine line while reporting about children and violence — dilemmas faced, whether photographs should or should not be used, the importance of nuance and a wider context as well as the importance of follow ups. Lots of questions and answers went back and forth from the students and panellists.
Job Zachariah, chief, UNICEF chapter for Chennai and Kerala also participated.
