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Wednesday Dec 17, 2008
Media organisations engaging with young people...
I've spotted two things that media organisations have done that really interest me.
The first is Dazed & Confused, the monthly style magazine founded by Jefferson Hack and Rankin, handed over the entire editorial of their current issue (January 2009) to teenagers. And the result, albeit on first glance, is really interesting. In a world where media organisations are increasingly unwilling to engage with young people without completing a small forest of forms it is genuinely refreshing to see a mainstream magazine put resources into engaging directly with young people and giving them a platform that goes beyond tokenism.
That said, the articles do all seem to be written by and about young people with names you'd be hard pressed to hear used on a council estate. And, as with all style magazines, it's as much about look as the substance. But, beyond the arty photos and clever typography lie some real issues that concern young people today.
The second thing I've been impressed by is the BBC's murder map (that's not actually its name). There was a time when it appeared every weekend there was another stabbing or shooting of a young person, but whilst the map and accompanying statistics and full list doesn't make pleasant reading; it does put the issue into some context.
In 2008, 72 teenagers (aged 10-19) have been murdered (or manslaughter) in the UK. That figure is relatively stable, but the figure for killings in London (29 this year) are far higher than an average of 17 since 2000.
The average age of those killed was 17, and most of them were stabbed. Saturday was the day when the majority of the killings took place.
Presenting the information this way makes the point that for all the hysteria about wayward teenagers, every one of these young people is a victim. And it is a factual resource that proves that huge parts of the country (including places like Nottingham, Bradford, Wales or Northern Ireland) haven't seen the sort of violence that if you believed certain parts of the popular press were a guaranteed occurrence on every high street.
Posted by Olly Benson ( 2:16 PM ) Link to this post Comments[0]
