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Media Code of Conduct to Realise Children's Rights
It
has been found that those who hold dissenting opinions are least
likely to be heard. Eventually, opinions on one side of an issue
dominates public channels of communication; while viewpoints on the
other side are not heard. This phenomenon is called by communication
researchers as “the spiral of Silence. Never
before have the spirals of Silence loomed larger over the world. The
mainstream media has become a full-fledged commercial enterprise –
quite often a mouthpiece of select political parties or of
fundamentalist groups. As the state or elite sections of society own
most of mainstream media, they manipulate it to systematically
further their own concerns and ideologies, Media projections are
determined by those who own and operate it – despite the tall
claims they make to the contrary.
In their attempts to sell more, they increasingly
sensationalise or tow the popular line - at the cost of their
integrity and credibility. In this cacophony, the voice of the
marginalised gets muffled – most of all children’s. Children
are only seen as either ‘cute copies’ or ‘sensational news’.
Child victims are routinely written about in gory detail, violating
all norms of decency and privacy rights.
Children's Rights are hardly talked about, nor are children
provided with opportunities to express them selves. There
is no lack of well formulated International and Regional
Declarations and Resolutions on what media policies should be in
relation to children. But they remain mostly violated, with
violators going unquestioned because neither children nor their
guardians have the means or the support systems to hold the media
and society accountable. As an organisation committed to advocate children’s rights and ensure children's protagonism in order to realise their rights, we, the Concerned for Working Children, have evolved a Media Code of Conduct, in consultation with children. The Media Code of Conduct to realise Children’s Rights, is an effort towards creating a paradigm shift in the media’s approach to children – from recipients of adult benevolence to full partners in society. It has been evolved in the context of the Indian experience of mass media and the many issues that emerge with respect to children's participation, use of and representation in the media. The violation of
children's rights by the media, whether through insensitive
reportage, misrepresentation or denial of space for children’s
opinions on various issues, is the
focus of this
Media Code of Conduct. There were three
primary arenas for examination in evolving the Working Draft of the
Media Code of Conduct:
Themes
include Children as creators of media in society; Creating spaces
for children’s expression and opinions of realities around them
Themes
include Children’s Access to Media; Right to information;
Children's Rights Programming of content, Right to protection from
harmful content
Themes include Children
as subjects rather than objects of the media; Right to protection
from misrepresentation and stereotyping; Right to privacy,
confidentiality and dignity The Working Draft
of the Media Code of Conduct to realise Children’s Rights has
evolved out of the experiences of children's groups, adult groups
working with children and their opinions and initiatives. The Media Code of
Conduct was released in 2005, when several people from the
development field and the media endorsed it. Recently, it was
introduced to all major media outlets in Bangalore. It is also being
taken up by the Press Council of India for consideration and
endorsement. Children already
see this code as a tool to assist them to assert their rights vis a vis
media. We hope this will become an affirmative protocol - a useful
self-regulatory tool for all those who respect Children's Rights. Price: Rs. 50 To place orders, please fill up the form and email it to cwc@pobox.com. |
