Protesting their apathy? : young people, citizenship and news media

The concern about young people's disengagement with politics is well versed. Studies repeatedly show they are increasingly turned off by Westminster based politics. This is confirmed by successive elections registering a sharp decline in the 'youth vote'. A popular response - amongst many journalists, politicians and media commentators - has been to label young people lazy or apathetic. Young people are perceived to be abandoning their citizenship responsibilities, as they place more importance in voting in reality television shows than taking part in a general election. And yet, a generation of young people are voicing their anxieties about the world. From marching in the streets against G8 meetings and the war in Iraq, to more recent rioting in Birmingham and throughout France, young people are increasingly expressing citizenship concerns. This study asks whether the news media are reporting on this engagement, and whether or not the news media are encouraging young people to be active citizens. Drawing on a systematic 1) content analysis of UK newspaper coverage of young anti-Iraq war protestors, 2) a large-scale survey of young people at the time, and a 3) more qualitative, follow up 'news exercise' involving young people, this study argues that news media coverage, overall, discourages young people from participating in the public sphere. The study challenges the news media caricature of youth as lazy, apathetic and apolitical, and ends with a youth subcultural interpretation of how citizenship should be reported.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo