"Abuse Is Not a Show"

Journalists, like other professionals in various fields, have an obligation to respect the best interests of the child when reporting on children in vulnerable situations, so as not to harm their health and psychological integrity. Viorica Zaharia, Chair of the Press Council, stressed that respecting the ethical rules for documenting and writing articles about children makes the difference between material that aims to sensationalize and material that aims to get ratings. Viorica Zaharia also advised the participants to apply some filters when they are not sure about a story, "Abuse is not a show, so the media shall never emphasize the details of a family's private life or the gory details, but shall treat the cases properly. Child abuse is a crime, and it is the responsibility of the relevant services to come up with interventions and solutions, which is what journalists should be writing about. Ask yourself what is the purpose of the material you want to make. If the answer is to satisfy the public's curiosity, then drop the subject.”

"Materials about Children Are Not Just for June 1st"

Arina Zîcu and Tatiana Corcebass-Onica, representatives of the Center for Information and Documentation on Children's Rights, stressed that journalists, while making their reports, should take into account that children do not have obligations, but the authorities have obligations towards children. Representatives of state institutions are the ones who should provide answers to cases of violence involving children, not only on June 1st – the International Children's Day. The experts, together with the participants of the training, analyzed several journalistic materials, identified ethical and methodological mistakes in journalistic issues and how to avoid them.

During the program, the participants had the opportunity to meet with representatives of different institutions and organizations working in this field, in order to understand the issue of children's rights from different perspectives. Mariana Ianachevici, Executive Director of civic organization “Association for Child and Family Empowerment "AVE Copiii," discussed with the journalists about child protection, which includes prevention and rehabilitation activities for children who are victims of violence. The expert encouraged journalists to address the issue of violence against children in a comprehensive way in their journalistic material, "We communicate a lot in the public space about this issue only when a tragic case happens, but we do not point out the problems in the system. Today's media is a very powerful tool with rapid effects, that's why it is very important and useful for the media to write about the responsibilities of the authorities in this field and to explain the processes related to the protection and rehabilitation of children at risk."

Another guest at the discussion with journalists was Vasile Coroi, Ombudsman for Children's Rights. He said that it is important to understand the problems that children face on a daily basis, because they are perceived differently by adults and children. "The role of the media is to educate citizens not to tolerate any form of violence against children, to report cases of abuse to the competent institutions and to provide solutions in order to effectively contribute to the prevention of various forms of child abuse," V. Coroi recommended.

"We Have an Obligation to Report Cases of Violence"

Veniamin Chihai, the investigating judge of Chișinău (Ciocana) District Court, stressed that as citizens we have the obligation to report cases of violence against children, and journalists have the mission to report about such cases professionally in order to prevent the phenomenon without harming children.

Participants in the event appreciated the recommendations they received from the program's experts, which will be useful when dealing with children's rights issues. "I learned what mistakes to avoid when producing material about children. I learned that it is not appropriate to disclose children's personal data, because failure to do so can have consequences for the child's life. The knowledge I gained during the training will help me to create journalistic materials without violating ethical norms and the personal space of the children I will interview," said Nicoleta Sîrbu, Agora.md intern and student of journalism at Moldova State University.

Maia Bălan, a journalist at the Esp.md portal in Bălți, believes that the media community has the necessary tools to raise public awareness about violence against children, "I will cover several topics related to violence against children and I think that in such topics it is useful to include the element of solutions proposed in this training and to follow how the authorities act to protect children from violence."

This activity is implemented by the Association of Independent Press within the project "Active Citizens, Empowering Communities, Phase II," component "Journalists for Diversity and Inclusion: Accountability and Commitment," funded by the governments of Switzerland and Sweden.