This document is an internal policy of YAPA. Use it to help develop your own agency's internal policies. You will have to make changes to suit your own context and any legal requirements which apply to you.
Policy
YAPA will seek media coverage to highlight priority youth and youth sector issues to decision makers and the broader community.
All media comment by YAPA will reflect a social justice framework and the agreed policy principles of YAPA.
Procedures
The Executive Officer is responsible for the planning and co-ordination of all media interviews.
The Executive Officer will conduct most media interviews but may delegate interviews on specific issues to staff with greater expertise or experience in these issues.
The Executive Officer may also request members of the YAPA Board of Management to conduct media interviews as required.
No other person is authorised to speak on behalf of YAPA.
The Executive Officer's answering machine message will contain a contact mobile phone number for media comment. Staff can give the mobile phone number to any journalist or media outlet.
When YAPA conducts proactive media campaigns
All media releases must be approved in advance by the Executive Officer.
When possible, the media release and background reports or material will be placed on the YAPA website prior to a media release being issued.
A copy of all media releases will be kept on file and will generally be forwarded with staff reports to the YAPA Board of Management.
Journalists may be present at any YAPA public event such as a forum or conference so staff members should be aware that any presentation may be quoted by the media.
When YAPA is approached by the media for comment
When staff receive a phone call from the media outlet, and the Executive Officer is not available they should provide the mobile phone contact number and also record the name of the journalist, name of media outlet, contact phone number, subject and the timeframe for returning the call (ie deadline in one hour).
The staff member should phone the Executive Officer on the mobile phone number and pass on these details.
The Executive Officer will make a decision as to whether to provide a comment on the identified issue, decline comment or refer the journalist to a more appropriate agency.
Staff members may be given delegated authority to give background material to journalists within their area of expertise, while requesting that their name and details not be quoted by journalists.
All media interviews conducted by staff, including the Executive Officer, should be reported in staff reports to the Board of Management. This should include the name of the media outlet and the subject discussed.
When Board members conduct a media interview it should be noted and recorded in the Board of Management minutes.
All of these interviews will be recorded in the YAPA Annual Report and the annual report to DoCS.
All media interviews which appear in print media or on the media outlet's website will be printed and kept on file.
Young people speaking to the media
Media outlets are usually very eager to gain a young person's perspective, personal story or case study about a particular youth issue.
The views and stories of young people can be powerful and can provide an important opportunity for young people to "speak for themselves" about issues they are concerned about.
Involvement in media interviews does however pose risks to young people. Young people generally have limited experience or training in dealing with the media and can be easily exploited or misrepresented.
YAPA staff will therefore take every possible step to ensure the wellbeing and rights of young people who participate in media interviews.
Young people's participation in media interviews will always be voluntary.
Young people have the right to refuse media interviews, or any question or photo / filming by media outlets.
Young people will be informed of the risks involved with media coverage. In particular, they should be made aware of being inaccurately or negatively represented in the media. Young people will also be informed that the identification of themselves or their life circumstances can cause unexpected difficulties in their life, ie future employment opportunities.
When young people agree to participate in a media interview they will firstly be briefed by a YAPA staff member as to the nature of the story being prepared.
The staff member will choose an option for involvement of the young person in the story, depending on the level of life and media experience of the young person.
Options include:
- Case studies which do not include identification of the young person
- Quotes in a media release with the young person's name and age, but with no direct contact with journalists
- Interviews or media launch with a YAPA staff member or other trained youth worker present throughout the interview
- Interviews held directly with a journalist. Generally this would only be allowed for the YAPA Chairperson who is a young person, or a young person who has extensive training and experience in dealing with the media.
YAPA staff are responsible for providing support to young people prior to, during and after a media interview.
The contact details for a young person will not be provided to media outlets except in case D above, and then only with the consent of the young person concerned.
If a young person feels that they have been misrepresented in the media the YAPA staff member will support the young person to make a complaint to the media outlet or to any other relevant agency such as the Press Council, Media Watch, Anti Discrimination Board etc.
YAPA will not seek to advance its own interests at the expense of young people's interests, for example - portraying a negative image of young people in order to raise funds.
Legal restrictions on identification of young people in the media
There are legal restrictions on publishing or broadcasting anything which identifies a young person as:
- Being a suspect, defendant or offender in a criminal matter
- Being a child at risk or subject to a care order
- Being involved in a past, present or future family law case.
These laws relate to under 18s in some cases and under 16s in others. In some cases the young person's consent is enough to make the publishing or broadcasting legal, but in other cases it is an offence even if the young person consents. In some cases it is OK after the young person turns 18 to talk about what happened when they were under 18, but in other cases it is not. The actual laws are too detailed to outline in this policy.
The simplest way of complying with the law is to avoid identifying any young person when discussing their criminal involvement, care status or family law matters. This means don't publish or broadcast their:
- name
- face
- other details which some people may use to work out who it is.
For specific advice staff should contact:
- Law Access 1300 888 529, www.lawaccess.nsw.gov.au
- the Legal Aid Hotline for Under 18s on 1800 101810
- Shopfront Youth Legal Centre 9360 1847
- Marrickville Legal Centre 9559 2899.
Date adopted by the Board of Management |
23 May 2005 |
Date of commencement |
1 June 2005 |
