Media and the Children's Rights Campaign

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Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2009 im Fachbereich Politik - Internationale Politik - Thema: Frieden und Konflikte, Sicherheit, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: A free press is a basic instrument for the promotion of democracy and development. The Media can make a spectacular impact in generating change in all spheres of human life. On the other hand, it can also act as a perpetrator leading to instability and the spread of hatred. A balanced and fair reporting can ensure that the freedom of the press is not misused to violate human rights. Children's rights are especially more sensitive as the children cannot decide on their own on matters affecting them. In most cases their rights are violated, especially when they are portrayed as helpless victims. It is therefore important that both the masses and media practitioners are aware of the rights of children so that both can play a significant role in promoting them. "The media, especially newspaper, radio and television, are powerful tools in raising awareness and could make good partners in an advocacy campaigns to promote children's rights. Children make for interesting and appealing stories, and the media is usually sympathetic to their needs" (CRC: 2009). In this paper, an analysis will be made of the media in general and its roles especially in the promotion of children's rights. Media here refers to old media i.e. both print and electronic, because the codes of conduct for different media are similar in most cases. Here, the dual role of the media will be analyzed briefly, i.e. the media as a promoter of children's rights on the one hand and on the other, how the media violates children's rights. Children here, imply a person under the age of 18 years and shall include all spheres of children's lives, from those living with their families, to the street children and also those recruited as child soldiers in war zones. The change that can be made through training media practitioners on children's rights is the focus of this paper. It is upon the realisation that children's rights are violated by mass media and the masses can in turn only be educated by informed media practitioners that this paper is based i.e. the training of media practitioners on children's rights and how they can utilize their careers to impact positively on the society. This is an analytical paper in which the problem as well as some suggestions for possible children's rights training will be discussed. Evidently, some instances of children's rights violations by media practitioners are done unintentionally and therefore the problem should be easier to eradicate through awareness ...