Reporting Guidelines

Research conducted by Professor Chris Goddard and BernadetteSaunders from the National Research Centre for the Prevention of ChildAbuse at Monash University has found that media reporting of childabuse in some cases minimises the severity and extent of children'sexperiences in order to lessen the impact of the story on the reader.

In what they term 'gender slippage', Goddard and Saunders found thatchildren are objectified in language even when the child's gender ispreviously identified in the media story. In a widespread practice,both girls and boys are called 'it'. They argue that the use of 'it'depersonalises the child and in effect perpetuates the very strategiesused by abusers to rationalise their crimes against children.

Goddard and Saunders write:

"...Society has long denied the painful experiences of children.An object, by definition, is not expected to speak or act. The child,and his or her experiences, become removed from the all importantcontext. Naming a child as "it" may help us deny or reduce the child'sexperiences and thus contributes to what amounts to the "textual abuse"of children...(p. 27, Goddard and Saunders, 2001)".

The Australian Childhood Foundation supports careful and attentivemedia reporting in relation to children in cases of child abuse andneglect. The Australian Childhood Foundation recommends the followingguidelines for journalists in reporting on and about children, childabuse and child protection:

• A child should be referred to as 'he' or 'she', even in cases where the gender of the child is unknown;
• Crimesagainst children should be reported using accurate terminology whichdoes not minimise the experiences of children. For examples, reportersshould not use phrases such as 'relationships' or 'affairs' to describesexual assault and rape.
• Editors and sub-editors, inparticular, should give careful consideration of the implications forchildren of the phrases they use.

About the authors:

Associate Professor Chris Goddard is the Director of the Child Abuseand Family Violence Research Unit, Monash University. He can becontacted by email on Chris.Goddard@med.monash.edu.au

Bernadette Saunders is a Lecturer at the Department of Social Work, Monash University. She can be contacted by email on Bernadette.Saunders@med.monash.edu.au

The results of the research conducted by Goddard and Saunders can be found in the following references:

Goddard, C and Saunders, B. (2001). Journalists as agents andlanguage as instrument of social control. A child protection casestudy. Children Australia, 26, 26-30.

Goddard, C. And Saunders, B. (2001). Child abuse and the media.National Child Protection Clearinghouse Issues Paper, Number 14,Australian Institute of Family Studies, Melbourne