Media’s Responsibility about Child Rights: A Neglected Issue in Kahramanmaras Earthquake/ Turkey

Cankardaş S., Sofuoğlu Z., Koçtürk N., Ulukol B.

ISPCAN Conference 2023, Edinburgh, İngiltere, 24 Eylül - 27 Kasım 2023, ss.1

  • Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Özet Bildiri
  • Basıldığı Şehir: Edinburgh
  • Basıldığı Ülke: İngiltere
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1
  • Ankara Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Objectives: Disasters around the world put many children in risky situations that could result in their rights being violated. The Kahramanmaras Earthquake which affected 11 cities in Turkey is one of them. There were many children among the population living in this region. So much so that 21.3 per cent of the child population in Turkey (4,805,937 children) lived in the provinces affected by this earthquake. It is known that children are often used as the face of human suffering after major disasters. In the post-earthquake period, it has been observed that the photographs and videos of the surviving and rescued children appeared uncensored on social media, newspapers, and television. This study aims to take attention to the child rights issues after the Kahramanmaras Earthquake/ Turkey by examining the published news which contains children.

Methods: In this study, the number of children portrayed in the media between the dates of 6 – 16 February 2023 and the presentation style examined. The Google News was used to reach published news. The media including children and how it reported coded by researchers followed by thematic analysis.

Results: It has been observed that although there are special principles and principles for children in the ethical codes of journalism to protect children from the harmful effects of the media, this is not paid attention to. The children’s photographs and videos seemed to be published without any restriction, so that child’s identity could be easily identified. Generally, children’s stories and personal information are shared to promote hope or to portray hopelessness and pain in the disaster area.

Conclusions: The results showed that the media is neglecting children's rights which could harm children seriously. The importance of promoting children's rights at all stages of development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of laws, policies, and programs for reconstruction after a natural disaster was emphasized.

Recommendations:

  • There is an urgent need for media policy in Turkey to protect Child Rights during and after the disaster
  • Mobile phones and the internet make it hard to control who shares what. It is recommended to inform society about the privacy of personal data.
  • The child's parents may not have been rescued yet or may be dead. In such a case, since it will not be possible to give consent, after disasters, the sharing of images in rescue works should be kept dependent on consent, and the child's identity and information should be kept confidential.