Media Against Violence Petition - South Africa

This petition was launched in May 2002 by Idasa, the Institute for Democracy in South Africa, an independent non-profit public interest organisation that promotes democracy in South Africa.

Colleagues in southern Africa may wish to support and extend this. Thank you.

Media Against Violence, South Africa

We the undersigned, media practioners, concerned about the unacceptably high levels of crime and violence in South Africa, and a growing incidence of HIV - the transmission of which is often accompanied by violence - and noting how the reporting, advertising, and broadcasting of violence can impact our emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing as individuals and as a nation call upon publishers, editors, journalists and all other media workers to undertake to do the following:

• To be sensitive to the use of language and visual materials in reports that have to do with HIV, crime and violence and particularly when reporting on rape. This includes refraining from describing those attacked or HIV+ as eg "a girl who turned heads before she was raped", or as victims (unless they are dead) or "sufferers"
• To find the stories that show what many ordinary people are successfully doing to deal with HIV and violence, and its after effects - the many courageous women dealing with domestic violence and rape successfully and groups of men in various communities keeping their areas safe daily, as examples.
• To be respectful towards families of victims or survivors of crime and violence, and those living with HIV. This includes asking their permission before taking photographs or reporting on their personal tragedy.
• To refrain from using 'single source' reports that relate to crime and violence.
• To assign senior or more experienced journalists to report on issues of crime and violence and to deliberately provide mentoring for younger media professionals.
• To use discretion about the gratuitous splashing of stories that inadvertently glamorise crime on prominent news pages.
• To consider that perhaps the media has a role to play in inspiring hope and encouraging action that could build a better community and not just bombarding the public with awful incidents .
• To contextualise stories involving crime and violence ie: by contacting NGOs or groups who work with survivors or victims for confirmation of reports or for comment and to followup on incidents of crime, say six months and a year later to see how survivors or families of victims are, or are not, coping.
• To observe caution in the content of violence and inappropriate sexual messages in broadcast, advertising and print materials and try to engender a culture of tolerance and respect by the selection of broadcast, advertising and print materials.

We seek a media culture that empowers those involved in positive actions and disempowers the violent and the criminal. We seek a media culture that is thoughtful, principled, sensitive and fair and to that end we pledge ourselves.

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