Where are young voices in the media?
- Text by Alex King
- Photography by Youth Media Agency
In 2008, Britain received the equivalent of an angry letter from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. It highlighted the “general climate of intolerance and negative public attitudes towards children” in the media and elsewhere.
Since then, little has changed. Mainstream media rarely cover issues that matter to young people, and when they do – such as during the 2011 riots – their coverage too often reflects and reinforces negative perceptions, while refusing to give young people a platform to share their side of the story.
Social enterprise Youth Media Agency work with talented young journalists, filmmakers, producers and artists aged 18-25 to to develop their skills and ultimately give them a greater voice in the media and wider society.
SB.TV and Intern Magazine are just two examples of successful youth-run media who can hold it down on their own, but YMA works with over 150 youth media platforms to support their work and build connections with established media organisations to amplify their voice.
Alongside training, workshops and conferences, they also help power campaigns driven by young people, such as the #Presschange4youth, which called for youth-focussed media reform in the wake of the Leveson Inquiry into phone hacking and press misconduct.
Their latest campaign #XXVOTE launches Monday, March 16, and aims to encourage young women to register to vote before the UK general election in May 2015. Spearheaded by a short film made by a young female team, the campaign seeks to highlight the low level of voter turnout among women aged 18-24 (only 39% of voted in the 2010 general election) and encourage more to register and vote this time around.
“All you see of politics is old white men shouting over each other,” explains YMA project manager Hannah Vincent. “It’s difficult to take anyone seriously when they are so rude and can’t even have a conversation. Politics needs to change to represent real debate over issues that really matter to engage everyone.”
Find out more about the #XXVOTE campaign at Youth Media Agency.
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