Photo courtesy of Sri Lanka Brief
The rising trend of sensationalized media coverage involving children is becoming increasingly alarming. Each day, new incidents highlight how deeply unethical media practices, particularly those that disclose the identities of child victims, are harming the very individuals they claim to represent. These practices not only infringe upon the dignity and privacy of affected children and their families but they also inflict lasting psychological damage.
When children are exposed to media without proper safeguards, the impact can be devastating. The young victims are forced to relive their trauma under the public eye facing ridicule, exclusion and bullying within their communities. In extreme cases, such as the recent incident in Kotahena involving a school child, the consequences have proven fatal. These situations reflect a critical need for prompt, fair and impartial action not just in the justice system but in media accountability as well.
Media outlets often prioritize sensationalism for higher viewership with content involving children becoming some of the most viewed and shared. Unfortunately, this often comes at the cost of a child’s well-being. Publicizing sensitive details and images of child victims turns their suffering into consumable content, stripping away their dignity and amplifying trauma. Media must urgently adopt a child rights-centered approach and avoid any form of reporting that causes harm.
Sri Lanka currently lacks a comprehensive legal framework to regulate how children are represented in the media. This legal vacuum leaves room for serious lapses in ethical standards. While some journalists adhere to basic decency, many others fall short, exposing children to secondary victimization. With the rise of citizen journalism, it is imperative that Sri Lanka enforces stricter laws and aligns with internationally recognized guidelines to ensure child-safe reporting practices.
Internationally accepted media guidelines emphasize the importance of anonymity, informed consent and minimizing harm in coverage related to children. These include principles from organizations such as UNICEF, Save the Children, ECPAT International and the Media Diversity Institute, which call for a protective lens when portraying child abuse cases, focusing on facts without exploiting the victim’s identity or suffering. UNICEF has introduced six principles and seven guidelines to put into practice when reporting children’s issues in the media and interviewing children.
The problem goes beyond the media alone. Systemic issues such as the lack of standardized media ethics, inefficiencies in law enforcement and the absence of a strong code of conduct for journalists further fuel this crisis. A coordinated approach is essential, bringing together government, media institutions, civil society and child rights organizations to enforce ethical standards and protect vulnerable children. Despite the many efforts taken by many organizations to educate and raise awareness on ethical journalism, the occurrences of malpractices remain.
To ensure child sensitive and ethical journalism, all media professionals and citizen journalists should follow an ethical checklist.
- Protect the child’s identity at all costs – never publish names or photos
- Verify all facts before publication – avoid speculation or unconfirmed claims
- Use sensitive and respectful language that does not sensationalize or blame
- Avoid graphic details that retraumatize victims or distress the audience
- Obtain informed consent, especially when interviewing children or their families
- Highlight support services and resources available to victims
- Challenge stigma by reporting in ways that encourage empathy, care and understanding.
- Report with care – always prioritize the child’s well-being above the story
Any headline containing the word children inherently stirs a sense of duty and curiosity in the public audience. In today’s digital age, citizen journalists, everyday individuals capturing and sharing content online, play an increasingly influential role in shaping public narratives. But with that power comes responsibility. Sharing photos, names or unverified details of children involved in sensitive cases can cause irreversible harm. It is essential to create awareness in the general public on how to share child abuse news that is sensitive without causing further damage to the child or his/her family to gain attention.
It’s crucial that citizen journalists, bloggers and social media users recognize that ethical reporting is not just a professional obligation, it is a civic duty. Before posting or forwarding content involving children, ask, Does this protect the child’s dignity? Could this cause harm? If the answer is uncertain, the best course is not to share.
The recent events related to child abuse in Sri Lanka show the detrimental effects of unethical media practices on children’s lives, causing further damage to the victims. Exposing identifiable facts of the victims (such as the school attended), slightly blurred or pixelated video footage where the child and the environment are still recognizable with careful inspection and reporting other unnecessary/graphic details that provoke negative feelings and attitudes in the public are still very common in practice. Child involved news headlines that carry negative, exaggerated words to attract extremely shocked or excited readers are quite common. When minors are involved, the irreversible damage stigmatizes children, pushing them to isolate themselves, causing severe psychosocial issues in them.
Too often, media coverage of sexual violence blames child victims instead of holding abusers accountable. This harmful practice deepens trauma and silences survivors. The children refrain from reporting abuse to the authorities, not willing to be another prey of sensationalized media or the talk of the town/school. The challenge lies in shifting the narrative and the culture in the industry. While abusers roam freely, the children could be reliving the experience through the lens of unethical media. Changing this narrative is essential in ending revictimization by unethical reporting.
As an organization committed to ending child sexual exploitation and abuse, ECPAT/PEaCE Sri Lanka has launched a campaign to raise awareness on media ethics, urging journalists to report with care. Ethical journalism protects child’s right to privacy and confidentiality, right to protection from harm and retribution, right to have their opinion heard and right to participation in decisions affecting them to be protected. Through this campaign, the organization aims to spread awareness on respecting children’s dignity in every circumstance, urging the professionals to uphold ethical values in interviewing or reporting child victims of all forms of violence.
This is an urgent call to all media organizations to choose ethics over engagement. The momentary gain of sensational content must never outweigh the lifelong impact on a child’s life. Journalists, editors and media owners must collectively commit to responsible reporting, prioritizing child rights, privacy and psychological safety. Ethical journalism is not just a professional obligation but a moral imperative.