Abstract
This article explores the dissonance between the expansive discourses imagined by the advocates for youth media as helping foster ‘empowerment’ and ‘voice', versus the more circumscribed realities of participatory media production. I focus on a two-part case study – considering both a film-making project for ‘at risk’ young people in South London and the English national government funder that provided the resources for the young people to take part. This case study allows for an exploration of the political economy of youth media, and the relationship between youth media funding and how and why young people in my research often chose to make films about ‘gangs', a striking topic of concern across 11 youth media case study sites. I use this empirical example as a means to analyse how ‘empowerment’ in youth media projects, understood as both critical media literacy and youth voice, moves from abstract discourse to on-the-ground practice.
Highlights
I see / too much lies and deceit / on the streets these days young people surprise me.I see / you hiding behind a gun / only a real man wouldn’t need to hide behind one.These lyrics are the chorus of a rap from a short film written, shot and edited by young people on a South London social housing estate
I focus on a two-part case study – considering both a film-making project for ‘at risk’ young people in South London and the English national government funder that provided the resources for the young people to take part
This case study allows for an exploration of the political economy of youth media, and the relationship between youth media funding and how and why young people in my research often chose to make films about ‘gangs’, a striking topic of concern across 11 youth media case study sites
Summary
“State of the Youth Media Field Report.”. In International Perspectives on Youth and Media, edited by JoEllen Fisherkeller, 283–300. “A Public Voice for Youth: The Audience Problem in Digital Media and Civic Education.”. In Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth, edited by W. Young Citizens in the Digital Age: Political Engagement, Young People and New Media. Perspectives in Media Education: Beyond the Manifesto, edited by Pete Fraser and Jonathan Wardle, 91–109. “Creative Media Cultures: Making and Learning Beyond the School.”. In Critical Literacy: Politics, Praxis and the Postmodern, edited by Colin Lankshear and Peter McLaren, 297–320. “The Digital Afterlife of Youth-made Media: Implications for Media Literacy Education.”. “Beyond Literacy and Voice in Youth Media Production.”. “Mapping the Field of Youth Media 2013 Survey: Preliminary Overview.” Accessed March 26. http://www.namac.org/ideaexchange/youth-media-national-survey-data-overview-2013
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