Friends of Children of Serbia have developed guidelines for reporting on children in sensitive situations.

The Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia (NUNS), the Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS), and the Press Council, which participated in the creation of these guidelines through a consultative process, recommend that media outlets use this document, based on the fundamental principles of the Code of Journalists of Serbia and international standards for the protection of children's rights.

The guidelines have been created to provide media outlets with concrete answers to ethical dilemmas and to assist in protecting children from secondary victimization, traumatization, stigmatization, and sensationalist portrayal, while preserving their right to dignified visibility in public.

This is a practical tool that can help editorial teams verify before publishing a text, photograph, video, or other media content whether the reporting is in the public interest, whether it aligns with the best interests of the child, whether the child's identity is sufficiently protected, and whether publication could have harmful consequences.

Special attention in the document is dedicated to the operational tool and editorial checklist, which can serve as an internal verification before content publication. The aim of the guidelines is not to restrict reporting but to assist media in reporting on children professionally, ethically, and responsibly, especially when children are in sensitive, crisis, or traumatic situations.

NUNS calls on editorial teams to adopt the guidelines as an internal standard and as part of editorial procedures for content verification prior to publication, as well as to share them with colleagues in the editorial offices.

You can download the publication at the following link.

Source: NUNS