Basseterre, St. Kitts, November 18, 2014 (SKNIS): “The media is a powerful tool and should be used to protect the privacy and human rights of children,” that was the message relayed to media professionals at a two-day Child Protection and Media Workshop.
The November 17-18 workshop was facilitated by Literary, Cultural and Communications Lecturer at the University of the West Indies Dr. Tia Smith who sought to build synergies for child protection between the media and child protection stakeholders.
“We appreciate the media for getting out the stories about child protection issues and we are assisting in training how to best get the stories out so that we can protect our children, their right to privacy and ensure their human rights,” Dr. Smith explained to SKNIS.
Dr. Smith stated that the workshop provided a platform for media and Child Protection Services to come together, share ideas and best practices. She added that it is vital that the media has a good relationship with the department “to curb some of the sensationalized stories about children and their issues.”
“So therefore workshops like these though small, are effective with building partnerships with stakeholders,” Dr. Smith stated.
Some of the best practices, outlined by Dr. Smith, for reporting child abuse in the media were withholding the name, age, school, gender and location of the child and avoiding posting a picture of the child.
She cautioned that the media should not publish “hear say” and should do proper research on matters and avoid sensationalism. In addition, the media should contact a Child Protection Professional to clarify issues and get further assistance on how to relay the news.
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