The 16 Days of Activism: Media ethics in news reporting of gender-based violence on News24 and IOL

Abstract

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a profoundly nuanced social phenomenon that demands comprehensive and contextualised media reporting. However, news coverage predominantly adopts an event-based approach, focusing on violent incidents rather than the broader systemic and historical conditions that sustain GBV. As a result, GBV is often misrepresented as an isolated crime, resulting in coverage that runs the risk of not only obscuring the colonial history of violence against women but also reinforcing patriarchal power structures, marginalising especially African women. To promote ethically accountable GBV reporting, this study suggests that the phenomenon be investigated through a theoretical perspective that integrates social responsibility theory, postcolonial media theory, and journalism ethics, taking the contextual nuances of GBV into account. The South African Press Council's Code of Ethics and Conduct for SA Print and Online Media (SA Press Code), which is the foundation of journalism ethics in South Africa, includes general guidelines that also pertain to GBV reporting but does not address GBVspecific challenges such as socio-historical contextualisation and authentic community representation. This study aimed to fill the void by developing a proposed framework for ethically accountable GBV reporting through the lens of the integrated theoretical perspective. Using the framework as a measure, news reports on News24 and IOL from 14 October 2023 to 21 January 2024 (the period before, during, and after the 16 Days of Activism) were analysed following a qualitative approach. The analysis revealed significant ethical lapses, including the absence of survivor-centred approaches, exclusion of community voices, and the failure to provide content warnings or prevention measures. The findings point to a gap in journalists' understanding of the nuanced context. The proposed framework in this study could enhance journalists' sensitivity if integrated in the journalism curriculum, and institutional and professional ethical guidelines.