Youth Media

Public Definitions of “Youth”

The many representations of “youth” are central to understanding this segment of community-based media. The term “youth” is often used to indicate dysfunction. Young people are mostly called “youth” when they do something improper or illegal (smashing bottles, stealing cars, or wearing unusual clothes). In some populist accounts, youth live in an alien and untamed state, hazardous to themselves and to society. It is the opposite of “adulthood”—a time of life associated with maturity and responsibility.

In relation to media policy, young people have been invoked in contradictory and problematic waysas victims, criminals, or “digital natives.” High-stakes enforcement issues such as Internet censorship, piracy, and cyber-bullying are pursued “for the good of young people.” Critics have observed that in many instances, young people are merely used as an emotive and symbolic device, disguising other legal, corporate, or government agendas resulting in Internet control.

At the other end of the spectrum, appealing to youth is a marketing and design device. Ideas and trends that emerge in the cultural spheres inhabited by young people get reappropriated for the purposes of fashion, advertising, and branding on a much wider scale. In this way, the inventions of a youth subculture (such as punks, skaters, and hip hop) are made part of the mainstream.

The Many Facets of Youth Media

Youth media are simultaneously a reaction to and disavowal of these various representations of youth. However, it should also be acknowledged that many media organizations run by young people do not use the label “youth media” either because their content is not specifically about “youth” or because they reject the term.

A large segment of the youth media sphere seeks to address youth dysfunction or disadvantage, operating under the “development” umbrella. Media production, in this case, becomes a social welfare tool, prescribed for (re)educational purposes and positive transformation at the individual level. This strand of youth media has its historical roots in pastoral care and evangelical social work projects, designed to equip young people with the personal, social, and cognitive skills required to [Page 553]participate as responsible citizens. The projects are administered by reflective practitioners, usually within social work charities and nongovernmental organizations.

Youth media can therefore be a technique of self-conduct, dedicated to well-being and provided through the bonds and support of the community sphere. There are many successful and interesting examples of youth media projects involving underprivileged or “at-risk” young people (for example, the WAC Performing Arts and Media College in London). By giving young people on the margins a voice, these projects provide a space for various cultures, experiences, and ideas that might not otherwise get produced and circulated.

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