Between March and June 2009, IGE UK convened two consultations at St George’s House, Windsor Castle, supported by the Comino and Gordon Cook Foundations, to consider ways of counteracting the deficit model of young people so often presented in the media. 

• Make Hoodies History; Media Stereotyping and Young People (March 2009)

• Every Headline Matters: Exploring a shared vision between the media and young people (June 2009)

Make Hoodies History

This consultation brought together young people from across the UK, youth organisations, youth-led policy think tanks, journalists and media organisations. The aim was to explore the negative portrayal of young people in the media and make recommendations for redressing the imbalance highlighted by recent research.  In line with the research shared by the National Youth Agency (NYA), Citizenship Foundation (CF), and Women in Journalism (WIJ), it was agreed by all attending the consultation that there was a negative effect on the confidence, attitudes and behaviour of young people in relation to the constant negative portrayal of themselves within some media.

Recommendations arising from the consultation were to develop the following:

• Youth Media Charter
• Youth Press Complaints Gateway
• Practical Youth Media Action

Every Headline Matters

Following on from the Make Hoodies History Consultation in March, IGE UK held a second consultation to create a shared dialogue between the media and young people with a view to challenging the negative portrayal of young people.  In order to have a balance of voices, one third of the participants were from the media, one third from the youth sector and one third young people, to debate, make recommendations and consider a mission statement for working together in the future. 

A direct outcome of this consultation was the setting up of the Youth-led Media Network