Quote of the Day

The role of the media, and its relationship with child protection, is extremely important and is often misunderstood and understated. The media have a very important role to play in reporting on the abuse of children, educating the public on the reasons behind it, giving it a profile and ensuring that society at large has collective responsibility to deal with the issue.

The importance of this relationship was recognised in the report of the National Commission of Inquiry into the Prevention of Child Abuse. (Note l) This report was published in 1996 after extensive UK research into the cause of child abuse and made 85 far reaching recommendations including, inter alia, the following:

Journalists' training should include child abuse issues, to improve the coverage of child abuse cases and editorial content.
In covering news stories in which children feature, the media should have an obligation to consider the child's best interest. Failure to do so should be grounds for complaint to the relevant authority.
Key professionals in social services and social work departments should be trained in media relations.
Children's Commissioners should be the principle source of informed comment on children's issues so that the media can have the authoritative and independent source of information that is currently lacking.

Before dealing with the NSPCC's position in relation to the 'naming and shaming' debate I wanted to tease out a few thoughts in relation to the above in regard to two specific aspects of this debate.

Social Work, the Media and the Reporting of Sex Abuse
Probably the most startling difference between the statutory and voluntary sectors is in the issue of media relations. In the statutory sector social work staff are not often encouraged to speak with the media and often issues are shrouded in a veil of confidentiality.

Social work is a very difficult and much misunderstood profession, but we have sometimes got ourselves to blame in terms on perceptions perpetuated on occasions by the media. Most journalists I have met are very responsible individuals who are interested in children's matters and have families of their own. They want to report on the real issues in a difficult area and have a bona-fide interest in doing so. There are many complexities and myths in relation to sexual abuse and those who work in the field of child protection must engage the media to help shape the debate and ensure that the issues are reported accurately and given the profile they deserve. This will help to protect children every bit as much as through preventative work and direct therapeutic services.

The Preoccupation of the Media with Sex Abuse and Certain Types of Sex Abuse
The converse of the above is the preoccupation of the media in general and some papers in particular, in relation to the issue of sex abuse. Some issues include:

The NSPCC's experiences of putting out press releases is that it is frequently material about sex abuse and particularly statistics that gets the highest profile,
Sex abuse is given a profile above and at the expense of other forms of abuse. (Note 2)
Certain myths and stereotypes are continually perpetuated, such an abuser being a dirty old man, those who have been abused must go on to abuse, it is men who abuse, abusers are not married and exist in other people's communities, etc. This is combined with simplistic solutions to the treatment of offenders and demonising stories.

The media have a bona-fide interest in reporting and commenting on sex abuse and should receive the support of those who work to protect children. But this interest does come with responsibilities to report accurately with the best interests of children at centre stage.

COLIN REID
Reid, C. (2002) Child Abuse and the Media: Naming and Shaming. Child Care in Practice, 8.2,. pp.140-143