The New Age slammed for 'lazy' reporting

NEWSWATCH: According to a Mail & Guardian report, The New Age has claimed that the videos of the children used in FNB's "You Can Help" ad campaign were scripted and that the children were paid. In its turn, FNB has accused the New Age of 'lazy' reporting, reports Mail & Guardian

By Rod Baker

30 Jan 2013

For more:

Mail & Guardian: Report: FNB ads scripted, children paid as actors... This is what The New Age claims... "the videos were scripted and that the children were paid R3,500 a day to appear in the videos" according to the Mail & Guardian report.
Mail & Guardian: FNB slams New Age for 'lazy' reporting... And this is what the bank reckons... The New Age is guilty of 'lazy reporting and, according the Mail & Guardian report, Bernice Samuels, FNB chief marketing officer, said that "although contributors to the main 'There will be a day' advert were indeed compensated for their services, respondents in the controversial video clips which accompanied the campaign were not" and that "the clips were a sample of the responses from 1,300 respondents interviewed ... and that their replies were their own views and were not scripted or censored".
So, the questions are:
• Are The New Age claims valid?
• Are FNB's claims that the newspaper is guilty of 'lazy' reporting valid?
• Even if the final videos were edited/scripted, do they still reflect the genuine hopes and views of the children that appear in them?
• Whom are you going to believe? The New Age, or FNB?

Rod Baker

About Rod Baker

Rod Baker is Content Director at Bizcommunity.com. A journalist since before computers, he worked on a wide range of magazines and, in his youth, rose through the ranks from being a lowly and abused sub-editor, to a high and still abused editor and publisher. He has been editor and publisher of a number of magazines, as well as a newspaper. He has edited many books, and written a number too. Email him at moc.ytinummoczib@dor.