What happens, instead, is that the Human Rights Commission would see it as a failure
on its part if it were to delegate the task to another independent body such as the
Media Council. Paying another independent institution to do what they see as a job
they have been assigned to do themselves is, mistakenly, seen as a failure on its part
and also a misappropriation of the budget it has been allocated. Some of the most
successful projects for children, the Media Council said, have been conducted when
different organisations and institutions collaborate for the same goal and share their
expertise and financial resources.
As an example, the Media Council pointed to its work with UNICEF on the drafting
of a Code of Ethics and regulations governing children and the media.
Legislative instruments not specifically geared towards the media but contain references to its
conduct and behaviour with regard to children include the Juvenile Justice Bill, also currently in the
draft stages. Article 12 (a) of the Bill stipulates that the media should actively participate in
preventing children from becoming involved in criminal activities and in efforts for the successful
rehabilitation and reintegration of child offenders into society. The same article also requires the
media to exercise high standards of professionalism, and to refrain from bias, in any and all
coverage of children in conflict with the law. The Bill also requires that the best interest of the child
should be the main – and only – consideration in all media coverage involving children in conflict
with the law (Article 12 (b)). Article 12 (c) describes biased, sensationalist or misrepresentative
media coverage of children in conflict with the law as a violation of children’s rights.
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