DUSHANBE, September 30, 2013, Asia-Plus -- The TV program showing episodes of a dead and mutilated corpse of a child accompanied with a description by a killer shown on the Tajik TV channels, especially on the Children and Adolescents TV “Bahoriston” generated wide discussions among the public.

“Broadcasting such episodes on the TV Channel which is mandated to produce child friendly programs for its target audience aged 3-16 contradicts the principles of Ethical Reporting on Children,” a statement released by UNICEF CO Tajikistan said.

“The Principles and Guidelines for Ethical Reporting on Children and Young People under 18 years old have been developed based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child and offered as guidelines that UNICEF believes will help media to cover children in an age-appropriate and sensitive manner.  The guidelines are meant to support the best intentions of ethical reporters: serving the public interest without compromising the rights of children.

“The right of the people to information on matters of public concern shall be recognized and afforded to the citizen.  However, recognizing the right to access to information shall also deem that the right is not without limitations.  One such limitation is the access to information on matters pertaining to children which is due to the fact that reporting on, about and for children and young people has its special challenges.

“Production of materials for and about children, including TV programs requires a careful approach by journalists to act only in the best interest of children and particularly protect children, as TV viewers, from social and psychological harm and to respect the dignity of affected families.  The publication of images or broadcast of programs containing information detrimental to child development should not be shown or aired on channels dedicated to children.

“We, at UNICEF, strongly encourage media practitioners dealing with children and family issues to pay special attention to when reporting about/for them, to become familiar with the set of standards and obligations regarding childhood and to exercise self-regulation through responsibility in programming, publication or posting of any information affecting the physical, social, emotional, mental and moral development of the child.”