Young People in the Media: a Study on the Representation of Young People in the Media

Written by MMP | 01 January 03

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The 2001 Census revealed that people classified as youth make up 40.5% of our population. (For the purposes of this research 'Youth' is understood to range from the age of 14 to 35.) This however is not translated in the media. The role of the media necessitates that information should not only be transferred to the public, but should also be done in an equitable, balanced and fair manner. The Media Monitoring Project has recently undertaken extensive research into the representation of children in the media, and this research revealed that children's representation in the media is limited, the representation of children reinforces certain stereotypes (including that children are helpless, vulnerable victims) and the representation of children often affects or violates their rights to privacy and dignity. MMP's research also revealed that when children are represented, it is predominantly negatively. A media profile of how the youth are represented in the media would be valuable to help determine whether they are also represented predominantly negatively. It is thus fortuitous that the Youth Development Network (YDN) requested such a study. Files to download:

More information about this resource:

Publisher	MMP
Year of publication	2003
External Link	http://www.ydn.org.za/publications/Occasional/Media%20Research.pdf
Online	Y
Physical Resource	Y
Place of Publication	Johannesburg
Classification No	305.23 YOU