"A group of young men, who had previously been seen as yobs, now have the support of the community," says Mark Wood, youth project co-ordinator at YMCA England.
Wood is talking about the young men of London City YMCA, who were filmed by Channel 4 Television travelling to Gambia and making a video about HIV and Aids. The resulting programme, World of Difference - Gambia, won the Best Television Coverage of Young People category in Young People Now's Positive Images Awards.
As a general election draws closer, some candidates are using the fear of young people as a campaigning tool. This makes it even more important for the media to provide a balanced view of young people, and Young People Now's Positive Images campaign, which launched in October last year, aimed to encourage the media to cover young people in a positive way, as well as urging youth groups, councils, youth workers and young people to be proactive.
The campaign attracted the support of 100 MPs in an early day motion proposed by Hilton Dawson, MP; it received messages of support from youth organisations, Cabinet ministers, politicians from all parties and media professionals, including Robin Esse, executive managing editor of the Daily Mail, and Nick Pollard, head of Sky News.
Charles Hendry, shadow minister for young people, invited young people from youth inclusion charity Fairbridge and youth housing organisation The Foyer Federation to the House of Commons to discuss stereotyping with BBC Television's head of news, Roger Mosey (YPN, 2-8 March, p13).
Youth groups and young people around the country have been inspired by the campaign. The PEPYS Youth Forum in Essex organised media training for its young people (YPN, 2-8 February, p4); teenagers stationed with Army families in the Rhine & European Support Group invited local journalists to come and talk to them (YPN, 26 January-1 February, p19); and youth worker Toby Wilson wrote to his local newspaper (see judging panel box, left).
Of course, there is always more to be done, as Positive Images judge and former television journalist Martyn Lewis says: "Many young people - and organisations - are not nearly as media savvy as they ought to be. Having said that, the top three or four entries were outstanding."
JUDGING PANEL
- Arun Khoot Lloyd, 15, attends Deptford Green School. While doing work experience at Young People Now magazine, he had three pieces of work published and he hopes to become a journalist in the future.
- Mike Jempson, director of The MediaWise Trust (formerly PressWise, www.mediawise.org.uk), has more than 30 years' experience in journalism, and was previously a teacher and youth worker.
- Hugh Perry is editor of Youth Justice Board News, the bimonthly publication from the Youth Justice Board that looks at latest policy and best practice in youth justice.
- Chantelle Horton is deputy editor of Bliss magazine, which is targeted at 13- to 18-year-old girls. She started out as editorial assistant on Just 17 and has written four books aimed at schoolchildren.
- Martyn Lewis is chairman and co-founder of YouthNet UK, a charity that runs young people's web site TheSite.org. Formerly a TV reporter and news anchor for ITV and the BBC, in 1994 he called for TV news to place less emphasis on negative stories.
- Les Simmons is personal and social development manager for Connexions Staffordshire, working with young people throughout the county to ensure they have a say.
- Emma Weston, 18, is a member of Hillingdon Youth Council and a former Member of the UK Youth Parliament, with which she is still involved.
- Toby Wilson is a neighbourhood youth worker in North Spelthorne, employed by Surrey County Council. In October 2004, he wrote to his local paper to protest about negative stereotyping of young people and to promote Positive Images.
- Melody Hossaini is a trustee of the UK Youth Parliament and Wavemakers, a charity that celebrates the achievements of children and young people from diverse backgrounds.
- Kayleigh Garbett, 17, is Member of the UK Youth Parliament for Staffordshire and an active member of youth forums and her school council.
- Charlotte Goddard is deputy editor of Young People Now magazine. She has also volunteered as an education mentor for Youth at Risk.
BEST INVOLVEMENT BY A YOUNG PERSON IN PROMOTING POSITIVE MEDIA PORTRAYAL
WINNER: Jordan Jarrett-Bryan
Jordan Jarrett-Bryan, 21, is editor of LIVE, a Brixton-based magazine for young people produced by young people, which he became involved with after writing a film review. In 2003, Jordan became editor of LIVE in return for agreeing to return to college to complete his A-level in English studies, as he needed to improve his grammar and spelling.
At the beginning of 2004, Jordan was finding both college and his position as editor challenging, but after some of the key team were invited to New York to visit a youth and community group and share ideas about setting up a similar magazine, he renewed his commitment to LIVE. Jordan has since risen to the challenge of becoming the editor - and a transatlantic sister title is in development.
He is involved in every aspect of the magazine's production, including photo shoots, feature ideas and liaising with other media and PR companies.
He always contributes a serious feature to the magazine as well as writing reviews and, after some training, has a good understanding of the sub-editing process and checks all the writers' work. He has also guided LIVE through a redesign.
"Young people get interested when they are spoken to by their peers," says Jordan. "You can spot it a mile away when something's not written by young people."
As well as promoting positive images of young people through LIVE, Jordan has been interviewed on the radio and in the press many times on LIVE's behalf. He has written for various publications, including the Guide to Youth column in The Guardian. He says: "Young people haven't had their voice in the national media, but it is changing."
BEST PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN BY A YOUTH GROUP
WINNER: Dudley Youth Council
Dudley Youth Council is a group of young people aged 11 to 19 from across the West Midlands borough. The young people felt negative stereotyping in the media affected them in their everyday lives and decided to take action. Jodie Sabin, then chair of Dudley Youth Council, says: "We did a few workshops and one of the things that always came up was that negative stereotypes of young people were a massive problem in the press."
The young people decided to hold the Dudley Youth Awards event to recognise the achievements of young people and obtain positive media coverage, so the public would start to hear about young people who were doing good things in their communities.
The group worked hard to make sure the event received positive publicity, promoting it through schools, colleges and youth organisations, which resulted in some articles in school magazines. They liaised with the marketing department at Merry Hill Shopping Centre in Dudley to get posters and nomination forms displayed, and worked with Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council's marketing team to get help writing press releases and enticing the press along to the awards evening. The local Express & Star newspaper sent a reporter and photographer; the young people also booked a photographer to make sure papers that didn't attend could print pictures. Local councillors, dignitaries and media personalities were also invited, to add interest to the awards ceremony.
All the hard work paid off, as positive coverage of young people appeared on the front page of the Express & Star, and Jodie Sabin was invited on to the local radio breakfast show to talk about stereotypes of young people in the media. The local weekly Stourbridge News paper also ran an article, as did a number of young people's magazines.
"We were disappointed at first, because the local newspaper wouldn't print our nomination form, and only one newspaper came to the event," says Jodie. "But the coverage afterwards was fantastic. We were on the front cover and had a feature inside, and Adrian Goldberg, who does the breakfast show on BBC West Midlands, gave us loads of publicity."
BEST MAGAZINE OR WEB SITE PRODUCED BY YOUNG PEOPLE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
WINNER: WOWU
What's On, What's Up, or WOWU, produced at Slough Young People's Centre by a group of about 20 regular contributors, was the winner of this hotly contested category. The pocket-sized bimonthly magazine, which is read by more than 5,000 16- to 25-year-olds in Slough, includes an eclectic mix of articles on music, identity cards, football, student debt, slang and whether video games cause violence. It also lists useful numbers such as the local sexual health clinic and counselling organisations.
Once a year, Slough Young People's Centre runs two-week intense workshops called Front Page, to enable 16- to 25-year-olds to learn publishing and new-media skills. The course culminates in the production of an issue of WOWU entirely by the young people. At other times young people contribute stories to the magazine, which is then laid out by Tom Law, publications and marketing officer at Slough Young People's Centre.
"Anyone who has been to the youth centre and said they wouldn't mind receiving publications from us gets a copy and we are distributed in colleges, youth centres, housing schemes and health centres," says Law.
One of the judges of the Positive Images Awards, 18-year-old Emma Weston, said: "This is a magazine that I would want to read."
COMMENDED: LIVE magazine
Such was the quality of entries in this category, the judges also decided to award a commendation to LIVE magazine, whose editor Jordan Jarrett-Bryan also scooped an award for Best Involvement by a Young Person in Promoting Positive Media Portrayal.
BEST NEWS REPORT/FEATURE IN THE LOCAL PRESS
WINNER: Nermin Oomer/Burton Daily Mail
Derbyshire's Burton Daily Mail is delivered to 60,000 residents of Burton-upon-Trent, Lichfield, Ashby de la Zouch and Uttoxeter every evening and was the clear winner of this category with a two-page feature by senior reporter Nermin Oomer entitled "Change of direction". The feature, which appeared on 1 November 2004, covered two local youth projects: Coaching for Success and Jigsaw Mentoring Partnership. Coaching for Success is a project running in local school Abbot Beyne, which supports young people to improve their behaviour and work, while Jigsaw is managed by East Staffordshire Racial Equality Council and aims to improve the quality of young people's lives and increase skills and confidence.
The judges were particularly pleased that the writer quoted young people within the piece, as many entries to this category, while writing about young people's issues in a positive manner, failed to actually quote the young people involved. Oomer quotes young people as saying that they have grown in confidence and lists their achievements such as gaining a job as a taxi driver and making a speech at a presentation evening.
Oomer says: "My old school rang me up and said they had done this mentoring scheme, and I had the idea of putting it with the other mentoring project and running it as a feature." Oomer, who has been on the paper for three years, had previously been on a prison visit with Jigsaw so was aware of the project's work. "I don't find it difficult to interview young people," she says. "I try to get on the same wavelength."
BEST TV COVERAGE OF YOUNG PEOPLE
WINNER: World of Difference - Gambia, Channel 4 Television
Six 15- and 16-year-old boys from London City YMCA were the focus of this 25-minute Channel 4 programme, which was shown in March, May and October last year. The group was one of three teams to win Channel 4's World of Difference competition and received £10,000 plus travelling expenses for its two-week project, an awareness-raising video that will be used by the Gambian YMCA as part of its HIV and Aids awareness-raising programme.
Deborah Ward, commissioning editor at Channel 4's education arm 4Learning, says: "World of Difference aims to challenge young people in the UK to reflect on their own lives and society. We hope it will encourage them to see how they can be more active global citizens, making it a learning experience with real partnerships and results."
Mark Scott, then team leader of Youthreach and now youth project co-ordinator, went to Gambia with the young people. "They are still very excited, because the show has regular repeats on Channel 4," he says. "They have become local celebrities and have been recognised by their community, which is proud of them; a group of young men who previously might have been perceived as yobs have been seen to be doing great things. The support for them has been great."
BEST RADIO COVERAGE OF YOUNG PEOPLE
WINNER: BBC Radio Stoke, Making Waves
Making Waves is a 12-month pilot scheme run and financed by BBC Radio Stoke that aims to give local students the skills and opportunities to make their voices heard. Young people from local schools are given the opportunity to learn about news-gathering, media literacy, audience awareness and editorial decisions, as well as gaining practical skills in audio editing and recording.
Pupils at Thistley Hough High School were the first group to take part in the project, and they chose to focus on the theme of stereotypes. They decided on the theme for the features themselves and did their own recording, as well as editing their own work "as far as time allowed", working with producer Joel Moors for four to five weeks.
The Making Waves project is overseen by senior producer Sarah Harness, and the results were broadcast on BBC Radio Stoke from 15-24 November 2004. They can also be heard online at www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/makingwaves.
Items put together by young people included "Liam on lifts", featuring 12-year-old wheelchair-user Liam talking about how people usually perceive him and why he gets so annoyed about the lift he has to use at school, and "Will's cap", in which Will, who suffers from hair-loss disease alopecia, talks about the huge difference that wearing a baseball cap makes in how people perceive him.
BEST ONLINE COVERAGE OF YOUNG PEOPLE
WINNER: Natasha's Cancer Diary/BBC Teens
Natasha's Cancer Diary is an 11-page fortnightly diary written by Natasha, who was finally diagnosed with cancer when she was 16, after much fobbing off from the medical profession. Natasha gives a very honest and readable account of her illness. "I've got cancer, cancer of the intestine, actually.
Nothing high profile like breast cancer or leukaemia for me, but a weird cancer that no-one's ever heard of," she writes. Natasha talks about the weird and hurtful reaction she gets from her friends, the difficulty of buying a wig following chemotherapy and the lack of support for teen cancer sufferers. The interactive nature of the web site allows other young people to comment on her story. For example, 15-year-old Kirsty writes: "You are a role model for all of us. Your story has taught us all about the disease and it may help others in the same position you were in not so long ago." Natasha's Cancer Diary ran during 2004 and is no longer on the BBC Teens web site.
BEST NEWS REPORT/FEATURE IN THE NATIONAL PRESS
WINNER: Anushka Asthana/The Observer
The Observer's Anushka Asthana won this category with a news piece entitled "No drink please, we're teenagers", which appeared on 17 October 2004, and another called "Move over Becks - King is kids' hero", which featured on the front page of the 29 February 2004 issue. The drinking story centred on a survey from UkClubCulture, an organisation that hosts alcohol-free clubbing events. The piece quotes 16-year-old Cheryse Hill, from Romford, talking about how young people are often misrepresented, and includes a diary from 15-year-old Lawrence Hallows from Manchester. The other piece, "Move over Becks", cited another survey, by Save the Children, that put the lie to the idea that young people are only interested in gossip and celebrities, picturing them as committed citizens who are interested in historical figures such as Martin Luther King. Asthana says: "It's easy to stereotype young people, but doing articles about the good things they do can result in a better story - because it is unexpected. Journalists should go out of their way to talk to young people and give them a chance to give their side of the story."
MOST YOUTH-FRIENDLY COUNCIL
WINNER: Bridgend County Borough Council
Bridgend Youth Council nominated Bridgend County Borough Council for this award, which held tremendous sway with the Positive Images Awards judges. The entry came from the youth mayor Terry Jones, 19, who says: "The council has fully supported the establishment of a youth council since its inception in 1999. It actively encourages young people to get their voices heard, and gave the youth council an office, computer and telephone to enable it to carry out any work it needs to do. Young people have total control over what they do and how they do it."
Young people are able to feed their suggestions, ideas and complaints into the council directly and through the Young People's Partnership.
Both the youth mayor, who is chosen democratically every year, and the adult mayor are inaugurated at the same civic ceremony. "As well as the formal recognition of young people through the youth mayor, Bridgend has a total commitment to young people," says Terry. "It is amazing."
Young people have debated the legalisation of cannabis in the main chamber and every year prioritise four important issues that steer the council's work. At present, these issues are sexual health, skateboarding, housing and how young people are listened to. Young people were even able to present a report to the council in their own language, with sections headed "Da structure", "Tings we did" and "Tings that we will do".
