Bebo

Fair Say <fairsay_dail_na_nog>

	Irish Times Article by Maria Kelly and Stephanie Kelly	719 dni temu
	 'The g-string round your ankle if you're up for sex'. Have we got your attention yet? When journalists splash headlines like this across the front page of newspapers that's exactly what they are trying to do: shock readers at the expense of young people. But it's not just the more outrageous headlines that are harmful. Journalists often talk about the 'Bebo Generation' as though we are wild and out-of-control group of people to be either feared or patronised. To read and hear about us in the national media you'd think we were an alien species from the freakish and never-to-be-trusted Planet Teen. This article was inspired by one of the main recommendations from Dáil na nÓg 2007, that the media needs to improve the way it portrays teenagers. At a Dáil na nÓg council meeting last June we agreed something had to be done about the unfair misrepresentation of young people in the media. We were sick of talking, we wanted action. It was at that meeting that the 'Fairsay campaign' was formed and this article marks the launch of our campaign. We felt strongly that the media was misrepresenting teenagers, we just needed to prove it with research, a method we felt adults would respect. Many of the delegates at Dail na nÓg 2007 expressed the opinion that teenagers were negatively portrayed in the media coverage of Junior Cert celebrations so we decided this period should be the focus of our main research. For a week before the Junior Cert results day and a week after, we monitored every national and local newspaper in Ireland, with the help of a media research expert and a media monitoring company. Trawling through the Junior Cert articles early one Saturday morning, we really weren't sure what to expect. The first thing we noticed was the difference in the angle taken by broad sheet newspapers as opposed to tabloids. Broadsheets overall seemed to portray teenagers in a better light, concentrating more on the positive aspects of the Junior Cert results day. In fact, one of the most positive articles that we found, 'We don't need drink to have fun' was in the Sunday Independent and a very similar article which appeared in The Irish Times - 'I don't need to drink for a good night out' - also got the Fairsay stamp of approval. But before any pats on the back are handed out, we should tell you that the broadsheets weren't all on our side, with many articles giving far too much space to the issue of under-age drinking. It just confirmed for us the media's obsession with teenagers who binge drink as opposed to teenagers who don't drink or do so in moderation. We do exist but you wouldn't know it to read most newspapers. Tabloids on the other hand were more provocative in their reports of Junior Cert celebrations. We found their headlines to be over-the-top, and worded purely for shock value. Headlines like 'the g-string round your ankle if you re up for sex' are obviously going to attract attention for all the wrong reasons. We were disgusted to read stories about sexual promiscuity on Junior Cert night which contained lewd descriptions and innuendo. Sex wasn't the only hot topic. Along with the broadsheets, tabloid newspapers have a preoccupation with underage drinking and drug use. One particular tabloid article that stood out, although not for quality of writing, was the story whose headline alone caused a stir; 'Straight E's' was labelled as one of the most sensationalist articles by Fairsay. The article recounted how three young girls went to a dealer to buy Ecstasy to help celebrate their results. The article quoted what the journalist clearly thought was a reliable source. That source? A drunken homeless man who supposedly saw the whole deal takes place. The negative article was based on hearsay and personal opinions. One positive tabloid article we found was from The Irish Sun, which gave teenagers a say on events around results day along with the positive opinion and congratulations from the Minister for Education Mary Hanafin. At regional level, the Kilkenny Advertiser published a terrific article which pointed the finger at Irish adults and their social activities. It stated young people were not totally to blame for excessive drinking and that binge drinking adults who exercise influence over teenagers should also be held to account. We are realists. We know the print and broadcast media have a duty to report that some young people choose to spend their Junior Certificate results night drinking and behaving in an irresponsible manner. But we believe that these young people are the minority and would question whether it was right to take advantage of young people who didn't celebrate wisely. So what else do we in Fairsay want? We want a voice. We want to be heard. We want print journalists, television and radio presenters and editors to get in contact with us about the Fairsay campaign, so they can hear what we have to say. We are tired listening to adults talking, often negatively, about teenagers. We want to be talked to, not just talked about. We want an end to the media negativity that is creating a false portrayal of Irish teenagers today. Perhaps these commentators think teenagers don't read the papers but many of us do. We also watch the news on television and listen to the radio. We see Miriam Lord's vast space for Dáil reports, RTE 's generous allocation of news slots to political stories and radio air play for every adult-related issue under the sun. Don't get us wrong. We don't think our own issues are any more important than those of adults. But we do think they deserve equal recognition. The Irish Times is generally to be praised for its allocation of space for teenagers, with weekly slots such as Transition Times. However, the scrapping of the newspaper's weekly Teen Times column was disappointing for Ireland's budding young writers and curious young readers alike. The Fairsay campaign doesn't claim to represent the whole teen nation. There are teenagers who may disagree with us. There are still others eager to be heard who can be found easily through student councils and local Comhairlí na nÓg in every city and county. We are growing up in a different society compared to previous generations. Our experiences are unique to us, yet journalists analyse these rites of passage as though they were their own. With the launch of the Fairsay campaign we are trying to change this. So that the next time journalists want to write about our underwear they might ask us first. Fairsay07@gmail.com
	opublikowane przez Fair Say