Media ethics in reporting on children

Written by: Argnesë Haxhiaj & Reita Demi

On Saturday, May 15, Kosovo’s media once again faced sensitive reporting on sexual abuse, except this time the reporting also included children. Despite current ethical codes and laws, videos and clues leading to the identification of the victim and the people involved were again distributed in most online media outlets. The latter did not hesitate at all to use this sensitive video, which showed violence, as a means to capture large audiences. 

Reporting on sexual assault means finding not only the right language, but the context and sensitivity to communicate a trauma that is both deeply personal and also a matter of social policy; burdened by centuries of stigma, discrimination and oppression. Reporting on sexual violence requires particular ethical sensitivity, interviewing skills and knowledge about victims, perpetrators, the law and psychology.

Coverage of these sensitive events always raises legal, ethical, and professional concerns about protecting the privacy of victims and abusers. The media, especially online media, have made it a tradition to violate every ethical, professional, and legal principle when reporting on these events.

Post-reporting problems

Regardless of the event being in the public interest, the media has an obligation to protect the identity/private sphere of the individual and to consider their well-being, regardless of whether the persons involved in such an event are public figures or not.

According to international ethical and professional codes, all victims involved in sensitive cases are automatically guaranteed permanent anonymity. In fact, the Constitution of Kosovo, together with the Law on Child Protection, Article 39; 'Protection of the right to privacy' and Article 46; 'Protection of children in the mass media', together with the IMC, protect, regulate and require respect for their rights. Also, the Code of Written Media, Article 6, 'Protection of children and minors' states that: Newspapers, portals, and news agencies will in no way identify children under the age of 18 who are involved in criminal offenses, whether as witnesses or defendants.

Despite this regulation, in Kosovo, persons who have been directly or indirectly involved in such events have been exposed without any journalistic ethical standards. Consequently, the victims involved in these events are further traumatized by the media, along with their families and social circle, where this publicity is expected to cause them shame and stigmatization.

The effects of victim publicity can be particularly difficult for children because their self-concept is highly dependent on others and peers, point out Adler, McLellan, and Pugh, 1999. Children have the capacity to feel shame and embarrassment as early as age 3 or 4, and research by Abrams, Bennett, and Gillingham has shown that by age 10, young people can experience shame simply by guessing or assuming that others are evaluating them negatively. Meanwhile, Finkelhor and Browne (1985) identify stigmatization as one of four key dynamics explaining the link between sexual abuse victimization and negative emotional and social consequences for victims. 

In addition to informing, the media must have an ethical responsibility to protect victims, so journalists must ensure that within the text they do not provide any information that leads to the direct or indirect identification of victims, such as personal data; name, surname, age, place of residence, family members, appearance, nationality, location of the event, video, society, etc. Journalists reporting on these events must be particularly vigilant regarding information that would be widely known within the local community, they must know that the audience may combine the information within the article and identify the person, which can cause psychological and social damage to the victim. 

Unfortunately, most media outlets in Kosovo are violating these principles and tend to publish not only the victim's details such as initials, place of residence, but also her/his/their photograph and contact family members or relatives or eyewitnesses.

For journalists to be more professional when reporting on these events, the United Nations Communications Group (UNCG), has compiled some of the points that they should follow and they are as follows:

1. Balancing the public's need for information against potential harm or inconvenience.
2. Increased sensitivity when dealing with children or adolescents, survivors of gender-based and sexual violence, and other vulnerable groups.
3. When reporting on news about survivors of violence, avoid publishing and broadcasting details that violate the survivor's dignity or material and spiritual interests. 
4. Balancing a suspect's right to a fair trial, along with the public's right to know.
5. Considering the long-term implications and sustainability of the published article. 

On the other side, UNICEF, presents 7 guidelines for journalists when reporting on children in these situations:

1. Do not further stigmatize any child; avoid categorizations or descriptions that expose a child to negative repercussions – including additional physical or psychological harm, or lifelong abuse, discrimination, or rejection by their local communities.
2. Always provide accurate context for the child's story or image.
3. Always change the name and obscure the visual identity/or do not use, of any child who identifies as:
   • a victim of sexual abuse or exploitation,
   • a perpetrator of physical or sexual abuse,
   • HIV positive, or living with AIDS, unless the child, parent or guardian gives fully informed consent,
   • accused or convicted of a crime.
4. In certain circumstances of danger or potential risk of harm or punishment, change the name and obscure the visual identity of any child who is identified as:
   • Child member of criminal/extremist groups
   • an asylum seeker, a refugee or an internally displaced person.
5. In certain cases, the use of a child's identity (their name and/or recognizable image) is in the best interests of the child. However, when the child's identity is used, the child should still be protected from harm and supported in the event of any stigmatization or retaliation. For example:
   • When a child initiates contact with a reporter, their right to expression must be respected.
   • when a child is part of a sustainable program of social activation or mobilization and wishes to be identified as such
   • when a child is engaged in a psychosocial program and claiming their name and identity is part of their healthy development.
6. Confirm the accuracy of what the child has to say, either with other children or with an adult, preferably with both.
7. When you suspect a child is at risk, report on the overall situation for children rather than an individual child, no matter how valid the story.

 An EMI approach to sex education and the role of the media

Another perspective from which sexual harassment can be viewed is the lack of knowledge about real sex. With the lack of Sexual Education, the reluctance of parents to discuss these topics, the possession of technologies makes children seek information elsewhere; starting first from their peers, then in the media to which they have access. Studies show that young people in Europe increasingly have access to the Internet, have smartphones, tablets, and television, while also having access to or possessing magazines profiled for women or men, where there is also information about sex. According to the study 'EU Children on the Internet', children from 9-16 years have seen sexual images on the Internet.

While mass media such as television, the Internet, magazines, movies, music, and social media are of great importance to young people because they allow them to stay connected, they also generate information about sexuality. Therefore, mass media increasingly provide sex education for young people in addition to school curricula and parents.

The question that must be asked here is whether this information received from the mass media is adequate.

With a lack of Digital Education, which falls within the framework of Media Education, children navigate the internet erratically and fail to distinguish between real relationships and those images that appear on the internet, based on which they build the concept of the realization of relationships.

Everything, the way we are built, is about setting a good example or not. Children build themselves based on the models they are exposed to, with the lack of Media Education and Sex Education, they adopt the roles they see on the internet which in most cases are unhealthy. Miranda Horvath, a professor at Middlesex University, emphasizes that “if we start teaching children about equality and respect when they are 5 or 6 years old, at the time they encounter pornography, in their adolescence, they will be able to choose and see the lack of respect and emotions that pornography gives us. They will be better equipped to deal with what they are being presented with”.

One of the biggest concerns about inappropriate sex education and harmful navigation is the easy access to pornography that digital platforms such as websites offer. If a child or young person searching for information on the Internet understood the essence of the function of the images and information displayed there, then they would click on sites that provide accurate information, which would be positive. However, with the current knowledge of young people about the workings of the media, most of their exposure is to pornography and thus they receive distorted, violent and deviant messages about relationships and sexual behavior that they should adopt.

Given that young people will encounter or seek out pornography at one point or another, and the message they receive from other media about sex, considering this serious threat to the psychological-sexual health of young people that would lead to deviant behavior, parents should take an active role in their children's use of the Internet and communicate with them about healthy relationships and sexuality at an early age. In this way, they help them contextualize and make decisions about what they are seeing online.

There are three main types of internet risks for children and they are divided into:

• Content risks; School-age children may unknowingly access disturbing, disgusting, or even unpleasant images such as; pornography, images of animal cruelty, and real or simulated physical violence.
• Risks from contacts; These risks include children coming into contact with people they don't know or phenomena such as Catfishing. A child may be persuaded to meet someone they don't know, share personal information with strangers, or provide contact details after clicking on advertising messages known as pop-ups.
• The risk of adopting behaviors; A child may exhibit behaviors that they have acquired from aggressive images they have been exposed to online.

According to the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, in the Law on Child Protection, Article 53; 'Measures against websites with pornographic content and those that harm the health and life of children', prohibits and regulates navigation for their benefit, obliging responsible institutions to provide safe internet in public spaces, including the establishment of filters and restrictions on sites that have inappropriate content for children. These filters should also be used by parents to regulate the content that their children can access on their phone, or any other device.

Below are some points that parents/teachers/guardians can use to address these issues:

1. Talk to your children about sex and healthy relationships from a very early age. Since they are exposed to sexual images in various media, you need to create an open and honest dialogue with them so that their questions are answered by you and not by the internet.
2. Exercise their critical thinking skills about sexual stereotypes. Point out how boys and girls are depicted on toy packages, in clothing catalogs, in advertisements, or in movies. Discuss how these stereotypes differ from their reality and about sexual messages in different media.
3. Use filtering software on your computer or block sexually explicit content through your internet provider, or use parental filtering options available on search engines like Google.
4. After a certain age, search engines and porn blocking are no longer the answer. So the best approach for parents of teens is an ongoing dialogue that acknowledges their interest in relationships and sex as normal and helps them develop the critical thinking skills they need to make good decisions online.
5. Help your children understand the harmful effects of images that abuse women or girls or that pressure boys to conform to a male gender model focused on sexual prowess.
6. Direct your children to good quality websites that provide information for young people on sexuality and health.
7. Set clear rules about visiting pornographic sites. Making your values ​​and expectations clear to your children is one of the most effective ways to influence their behavior.

Providing children with Media Education, and consequently Digital Education, equips young people with critical inquiry skills within the digital world which provides a safe and stimulating environment on the internet and in the media in general.