Photojournalism Ethics: Portraying Children's Photos in Tanzanian Media

Introduction

The Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) has provided guidelines for photojournalism in a code of ethics that emphasises norm of minimizing harm, using factuality, ensuring accuracy and fair captioning in order to prevent misconduct in the implementation of photojournalism ethics and professional behavior, particularly with reference to portraying children’s photos in newspapers and social media. In addition, the guidelines insist that photojournalists avoid manipulating pictures, stereotyping, invading privacy, and using pictures of human suffering or victims of violence (Media Council of Tanzania, 2016). Despite these guidelines, there are growing concerns about unethical practices in the media, especially in social media (Patterson, & Wilkins, 2008). However, only a few studies have been conducted to investigate the ethical practices of photojournalists with regard to photographs of children and their rights. These rights are declared by the safeguards and remedies offered in the ethics of photojournalism, national laws, and international conventions (UNICEF, 2017).