Media is the god of the modern age. It is omnipresent and almighty. There is no individual who has never read an article or watched a TV show. That is why it is one of the most potent tools to form a public opinion and reflect the moods dominant in a certain society. Unfortunately, media is not always objective and can offer facts far from reality. Moreover, it can be used to cultivate subjective meanings by pursuing the interests of a particular party or minority possessing the authority to impact the media’s work. For this reason, in many cases, the representation of some population groups might suffer. For instance, let us speak about Australian media’s negative perception and representation of teenagers discussing whether it is real and what major stereotypes are used.
There is a tendency to demonize young people and present them only from a certain angle. Most articles blame teenagers for numerous sins, speak about their inability to survive, and willingly discuss the negative aspects. At the same time, insufficient attention is given to young people’s achievements, or they are disregarded completely (Carlisle et al., 2019). Furthermore, an analysis of most popular Australian media sources shows that no attention is given to teens’ needs or the objective state of this cohort. As a result, readers are sure that the youth is doomed to fail and become a great disappointment for the older generation.
Moreover, speaking about how the Australian media represents the given group, it is vital to admit the extremely low coverage. Surprisingly, young people feature only in 3% of articles (The Foundation for Young Australians, 2020). Furthermore, the research shows that there is an unacceptably low number of youth-oriented media which might be interesting for them(The Foundation for Young Australians, 2020). As a result, no real needs are discussed and presented to the audience. From 2019, articles speaking about teens have decreased by 14%, which proves the tendency (The Foundation for Young Australians, 2020). The remaining sources prefer to avoid outlining positive perspectives. Instead, they continue to use only negative words. It results in the formation of the subjective image of a typical teen.
There is more to come. The biggest part of articles speaking about the youth, or 71%, are negative (The Foundation for Young Australians, 2020). It contributes to the creation of a negative image. At the same time, most claims made in newspapers or other sources are not supported with evidence (The Foundation for Young Australians, 2020). The authors do not offer real case studies supporting their assumptions about teens and their problems. However, other groups have a more positive coverage supported by actual statistics. It means that young people are often compared to other groups and lose this competition because of the existing tendencies to demonize them.
On top of that, the media mostly uses stereotypes when speaking about teens, their problems, and their achievements. The recent research of the most influential sources shows that the biased attitude rests on the four significant assumptions such as all young people are laze, all young people are dangerous, all young people cannot make the right decisions, and all teens do not have a clear and vital purpose in their lives. Employing these stereotypes, articles cultivate a negative and unpleasant image of a person who wastes his/her life doing nothing but consuming social resources. Regarding the critical importance of successful generation transfer, these ideas become dangerous and scare society.
In fact, it is impossible to remain neutral and preserve a positive attitude toward teens if the media emphasizes their extreme laziness. Most articles say about the young people’s inability to work hard and focus on achieving positive goals (The Foundation for Young Australians, 2020). Keywords search using the latest articles shows that 71% of all texts about this cohort underline the lack of persistence (The Foundation for Young Australians, 2020). Furthermore, they are prone to a negative evaluation of teens’ efforts to attain a specific goal and their results (The Foundation for Young Australians, 2020). Instead, the media focuses on failures that are viewed as a result of laziness and the inability to work harder than usual. As a result, readers start to believe that the young population will fail and destroy their achievements.
What is even worse, the media cultivates the image of the enemy while speaking about teens. Most authors and articles directly say that young people are dangerous, they are criminals, and it is impossible to feel safe close to them (Notley et al., 2019). Individuals under 18 are represented as aggressive and dangerous cohorts who can commit violent actions because of their moods or desires (The Foundation for Young Australians, 2020). Articles discussing crimes committed by young people are extremely popular with the audience and are discussed in families and other communities (Notley et al., 2019). At the same time, insufficient attention is given to real details and causes of aggressive behaviors. In other words, the media says that all young people are aggressive because they are aggressive.
As it has already been stated, problems in making decisions are another stereotype widely discussed by the media. One of the most commonly repeated ideas says that teens are doing worse compared to previous generations as they always make bad choices (Notley et al., 2019). They cannot select the right option because of their lack of knowledge, weak will, and the inability to analyze the situation (The Foundation for Young Australians, 2020). As a result, the nation suffers from the young people’s problematic decision-making and their hesitant nature (Notley et al., 2019). Most Australian articles cultivate such ideas and contribute to the creation of a negative image in their audience.
Surprisingly, teens are also charged with the lack of diversity in judgments and similarities. In the age of diversity and globalization, media still introduces the idea that all young people are identical as they follow the popular culture and stereotypes cultivated by it (Notley & Dezuanni, 2019). It means that their needs are also identical, and they should be treated similarly. The emphasis on the given factor creates a dangerous situation when the unique nature of every individual is disregarded, and the whole group is judged using a single example or case. Moreover, it cultivates a negative image of teens in public opinion and makes the biased attitude toward them a part of regular life. As a result, the media plays a critical role in deprecating young people and their efforts.
Speaking about the young people, it is impossible to disregard one of the major claims the older generation makes regarding their children. Young people do not have a valuable purpose in their lives. This statement is the essence of the generation conflict, and the media supports it. Most existing articles emphasize the fact that teens live following the idea of carnal pleasures, which insufficient attention to their future and the next day’s demands (The Foundation for Young Australians, 2020). As a result, they fail to succeed because of weak planning. Media also introduces doubts about teens’ ability to support society’s evolution and create the basis for future prosperity (Notley & Dezuanni, 2019). As a result, the image of a parasite is established.
Thinking about the issues mentioned above, one can wonder why young people accept it, why they remain silent and avoid any attempts to refute the ideas cultivated by media. In fact, the answer is simple. It is just because the media does not give young people a chance to speak (Notley et al., 2019). Statistics show that teens are rarely quoted in articles speaking about their concerns (Notley et al., 2019). Moreover, there are almost no actual interviews conducted among the youth in media (Notley et al., 2019). It does not mean that the topic is not interesting for the target population. Instead, it proves the tendency toward creating a negative image and cultivating it.
The absence of the opportunity to speak means that the media becomes unaware of the real needs of the youth. For this reason, articles do not speak about teens’ real concerns. Instead, there are many examples when a negative example of a single person is generalized, and the concept of fictional needs is created and discussed by the media (The Foundation for Young Australians, 2020). It results in the creation of a dangerous situation when really relevant social concerns are discussed, disregarding this cohort, and this exclusion might influence the future of the nation. At the same time, debates about the future of the youth are not given much attention.
Finally, an analysis of recent articles shows that Australian media devotes ludicrously low attention to young people’s successes. It is difficult to find a text saying about the positive achievements of teens and their contribution to the state’s development. Instead, primarily failures and opposing sides of their lives, such as drugs, tobacco, and alcohol, are empathized (Notley et al., 2019). Newspapers critique lifestyles, habits, and the ways teens entertain (The Foundation for Young Australians, 2020). As a result, the gap between generations becomes even more significant, and they cannot understand each other (Notley et al., 2019). At the same time, the media does not acknowledge the fundamental role of youth in forming the state and its future.
Altogether, today one can see a strange situation in Australian media. For some reason, it creates a negative image of a young person among readers. Most articles use stereotypes and biased judgments to speak about teens, their needs, failures, and achievements. What is more, teens are not provided with a chance to protect their position. The research shows that no real interviews or young people’s ideas are discussed in the media. Most sources disregard the most important needs and lack objectivity in their description of this cohort. As a result, an extraordinary situation can be observed today. Australian media critiques its own youth and views them as the potentially dangerous renegades with unclear needs and purpose in their lives. In such a way, we see that media offers a biased, stereotypic, and unreal image of teens that should be changed; otherwise, the society will suffer from it in the close future.