All Sides of the Story, Reporting on Children: A Journalist’s Handbook

This handbook for journalists presents complex questions around reporting on children. It makes use of contributions from media experts, and is endorsed by the South African National Editors' Forum, the National Association of Broadcasters, and the National Prosecuting Authority.

This guide is written by a media professional to bring together the contributions and support of media bodies, as well as children's rights experts, the legal fraternity, a UN agency, and various non-governmental organisations.

According to the writer, this handbook aims to promote a human rights-based approach to reporting on children. It provides an ethical framework for balancing some of the most complex ethical problems any media worker is likely to face. The handbook outlines ways of navigating those ethical dilemmas. The many guidelines drafted world-wide on the subject of reporting on children and children's issues are outlined, and an analysis of the issues that inform these codes has been tailored to the South African context.

Topics include:

• Children and HIV/AIDS;
• abuse and exploitation of children;
• children with disabilities;
• children and crime;
• children and the media ;
• children's rights and the South African Constitution;
• the Child Justice Bill ;
• the convention on the Rights of the Child.