Belgium: : New guidelines on the portrayal of minors in the media

• Autores: Eva Lievens
• Localización: IRIS: Legal Observations of the European Audiovisual Observatory, ISSN-e 1023-8565, Nº. 2, 2016
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The Code of Journalistic Ethics, drafted by the Flemish Council of Journalism, contains 27 articles. Particular articles are accompanied by a guideline which provides more information on the way a certain principle must be interpreted and implemented by the press. In December 2015, a new guideline was adopted to clarify Article 15, which states that journalists must use certain methods to gather or process information, photos, images and documents, and that journalists must not abuse their capacity, especially vis-à-vis vulnerable individuals such as minors, and victims of crime, disasters or accidents or their family. Minors are often portrayed in the media, generally as a group in society or individually, because a child has been a victim of an accident or has gained popularity because of his or her participation in a talent show. The new guidelines put forward a number of principles which journalists must take into account (a) when they give a minor the opportunity to speak in an article or programme; (b) when a minor is portrayed in a recognisable manner; or (c) when information about minors from archives is used. The guidelines were created after consultation with other European press councils (members of the Alliance of Independent Press Councils of Europe) and the Flemish Children’s Rights Commissioner.