The Role of Media in Reporting Child Abuse

Abstract

Some authors postulate that coverage of child maltreatment by the news media increases public awareness about this issue and helps individuals realize the need to report such situations. Can we therefore assert that an increase or reduction in the number of such news stories leads to a corresponding increase or reduction in the number of reports made to child protective services?This article looks at the short-term impact that the media coverage of children in need of protection had on the number of cases reported to child protection agencies. The number of reports (N = 11,646) made to these agencies in the greater Quebec City region (Canada) was tallied each week over a 24 month period. During the same period, a content analysis of the print media was conducted regarding child maltreatment and/or child protection services so as to identify and count the number of articles published (N = 1,211) and single out media frenzy events. The relation between the number of child abuse reports and the number of published newspaper articles was explored with two tools: a) a statistical correlation approach and b) an intervention time-series analyses. Two conclusions were drawn from our analysis. First, a statistically significant relationship does indeed exist between media coverage of child welfare agencies and the number of cases reported to child protection agencies. Second, media frenzy concerning child maltreatment and/or CPS does not show a statistically significant effect on the number of reports made to child protective services. Implications for practice in social services and future research avenues are discussed.

Child abuse in England and Wales 2003–2013: Newspaper reporting versus reality

“…Newspaper reports of child abuse and neglect have been the subject of a few studies in the U.S.A (Cheit, 2003;Hove et al, 2013;Kunkel et al, 2006;Mejia et al, 2012), Canada (Saint-Jacques et al, 2012), South Africa (Corbella and Collings, 2007) and Malaysia (Niner et al, 2013). In all these studies, sexual abuse was more commonly reported than other forms of abuse and neglect, though the extent of the difference appeared less pronounced in Malaysia.…”

Child Maltreatment Portrayed in Bangladeshi Newspapers

“…Although the limitations of media analysis when estimating the prevalence of maltreatment are acknowledged (Niner et al, 2013), globally, the use of media reports in maltreatment research is well known (Davies et al, 2015;Saint-Jacques et al, 2012). A media portrayal study from India by Nalini et al (2013) found that among the reported abuse cases, 92 per cent of victims were girls and 84 per cent of victims were sexually abused.…”

“…Sometimes, the media is criticised for a tendency to publish sensational social issues, mainly on account of the disproportionate media coverage of unusual and sensational stories (Ayre, 2001). However, many people believe that publishing sensational stories has contributed to the social recognition of CM, helped the adoption of laws and supported the establishment of child protection systems (Saint-Jacques et al, 2012).…”

“…As CM data are inadequate in Bangladesh, systematic analysis of news media reports can be a supplementary and useful approach to get a clearer picture of the CM pattern in the country. However, it is important to be aware of the limitations of such studies for the estimation of CM prevalence as only a minority of CM cases receive media attention (Saint‐Jacques et al, 2012). There is no earlier research from Bangladesh showing how CM is reflected in newspapers or other mass media.…”

On the frontline: child well-being and role of the Zimbabwean mass media in awareness creation

“…The media have been essential to the task of placing the topic of child protection in the minds of the public and on the political agenda. 1 Press coverage of child protection issues does not only affect the development of institutions and policy, it can also affect people's individual behavior. Reporting of matters pertaining to child protection creates a more protective environment for children through public awareness, and makes both the public and victims report such cases as child maltreatment to the proper authorities.…”