AROUND this time every year the journalism craft welcomes into its fold several fine young men and women from various universities and colleges for on-the-job training as reporters.
Some among them who studied journalism will be familiar with the mantra that their job will be to inform, educate and entertain, among other things.
Few will be surprised to hear that a major part of their job, one from which they'll get much satisfaction, will be to "nail the bastards".
Once inducted, the rookies will soon learn that the courts of law provide fertile hunting grounds for all sorts of miscreants. Through their work the rest of society will get to know of the baddies who murder, rob, plunder, rape and do other horrible things.
Alas, the trainees will also learn the annoying corollary to the pleasure of nailing bastards, which is being prevented, by law, from doing that.
They will find themselves spending days, weeks or months looking into the eyes of men accused of raping their young daughters, frustrated by the fact that they can't identify them, even when convicted.
Well, it comes with the territory. The law prohibits the identification of rape victims and children who are victims of abuse. Hard as it might be to accept, it is sometimes necessary to hide the identity of the perpetrator to protect the identity of the victim.
Now protecting the identity of the alleged perpetrator means much more than simply not naming him. It means you cannot provide telltale hints that might identify him, and thus his victim. That's when journalists are called on to keep their emotions in check and report dispassionately.
Unfortunately, this much appears to have been lost on the Sowetan last Wednesday. Its lead story, "TV Star raped own child", went overboard. It gave so many clues identifying the accused that they might as well have splashed his name and face on the front page and posters.
Reader James Khumalo complained: "The lead story in Sowetan today (January 5) about an actor who allegedly raped his own four-year-old daughter says in the intro they won't name the actor to protect the daughter. But a few sentences down the story gives hints on who this actor is. The Sowetan is being irresponsible. This type of reporting is purely sloppy."
The reporter got too emotionally involved. There is no excuse for that. The story clearly violated Avusa's editorial code.
Given the amount of effort the company invested in familiarising all its journalists with the code and The SA Press Code last year, no Avusa journalist can claim to be ignorant of the rules.
Our code clearly states that: "We recognise that children's rights to privacy and dignity deserve the highest degree of protection, and we undertake to respect these rights in every situation. We will maintain the highest possible ethical standards in reporting on children."
Each published story represents the work of several people besides the reporter, including the news editor, sub-editors and the night editors, who are supposed to ensure adherence to rules and high standards.
This systemic failure cries out for urgent attention.
Sowetan's news editor, Willie Bokala, acknowledged the concerns raised by the reader. He also said it had not been their intention to reveal the man's identity.
Interestingly, the offending lead story appeared the same day a report about how the media and families of the people whose graves were desecrated in Musina were kicked out of the court where the alleged perpetrators appeared.
This was because some of the accused are minors and the Child Justice Act requires that they be tried in camera.
Breaking rules such as happened in the reckless handling of the actor's child's identity does little to help the media's case to have the Musina trial opened to the media.
Of course, it would be preferable for the Musina magistrate's court to follow the precedent set by Judge Joseph Raulinga of the North Gauteng high court, who agreed to allow limited media and public access, via CCTV, to the Eugene Terre'Blanche murder trial, thus balancing the overwhelming public interest in the matter and the interests of the minor accused to a fair trial.
'Nail the bastard' but not your ethics
AROUND this time every year the journalism craft welcomes into its fold several fine young men and women from various universities and colleges for on-the-job training as reporters.
Some among them who studied journalism will be familiar with the mantra that their job will be to inform, educate and entertain, among other things.
Few will be surprised to hear that a major part of their job, one from which they'll get much satisfaction, will be to "nail the bastards".
Once inducted, the rookies will soon learn that the courts of law provide fertile hunting grounds for all sorts of miscreants. Through their work the rest of society will get to know of the baddies who murder, rob, plunder, rape and do other horrible things.
Alas, the trainees will also learn the annoying corollary to the pleasure of nailing bastards, which is being prevented, by law, from doing that.
They will find themselves spending days, weeks or months looking into the eyes of men accused of raping their young daughters, frustrated by the fact that they can't identify them, even when convicted.
Well, it comes with the territory. The law prohibits the identification of rape victims and children who are victims of abuse. Hard as it might be to accept, it is sometimes necessary to hide the identity of the perpetrator to protect the identity of the victim.
Now protecting the identity of the alleged perpetrator means much more than simply not naming him. It means you cannot provide telltale hints that might identify him, and thus his victim. That's when journalists are called on to keep their emotions in check and report dispassionately.
Unfortunately, this much appears to have been lost on the Sowetan last Wednesday. Its lead story, "TV Star raped own child", went overboard. It gave so many clues identifying the accused that they might as well have splashed his name and face on the front page and posters.
Reader James Khumalo complained: "The lead story in Sowetan today (January 5) about an actor who allegedly raped his own four-year-old daughter says in the intro they won't name the actor to protect the daughter. But a few sentences down the story gives hints on who this actor is. The Sowetan is being irresponsible. This type of reporting is purely sloppy."
The reporter got too emotionally involved. There is no excuse for that. The story clearly violated Avusa's editorial code.
Given the amount of effort the company invested in familiarising all its journalists with the code and The SA Press Code last year, no Avusa journalist can claim to be ignorant of the rules.
Our code clearly states that: "We recognise that children's rights to privacy and dignity deserve the highest degree of protection, and we undertake to respect these rights in every situation. We will maintain the highest possible ethical standards in reporting on children."
Each published story represents the work of several people besides the reporter, including the news editor, sub-editors and the night editors, who are supposed to ensure adherence to rules and high standards.
This systemic failure cries out for urgent attention.
Sowetan's news editor, Willie Bokala, acknowledged the concerns raised by the reader. He also said it had not been their intention to reveal the man's identity.
Interestingly, the offending lead story appeared the same day a report about how the media and families of the people whose graves were desecrated in Musina were kicked out of the court where the alleged perpetrators appeared.
This was because some of the accused are minors and the Child Justice Act requires that they be tried in camera.
Breaking rules such as happened in the reckless handling of the actor's child's identity does little to help the media's case to have the Musina trial opened to the media.
Of course, it would be preferable for the Musina magistrate's court to follow the precedent set by Judge Joseph Raulinga of the North Gauteng high court, who agreed to allow limited media and public access, via CCTV, to the Eugene Terre'Blanche murder trial, thus balancing the overwhelming public interest in the matter and the interests of the minor accused to a fair trial.