Youth on Screen kicks off to improve youth’s representation in TV
NET-MED Youth Project. © UNESCO/EU
On 20 and 21 April 2015, Amman, Jordan, will be the scene for an exceptional gathering of young people, civil society advocates, and media professionals. The “Youth on Screen” initiative, which will be implemented over the next year, is the result of the collaboration between two EU-funded projects focused on Southern Mediterranean countries: Networks of Mediterranean Youth (NET-MED Youth) and MedMedia.
”Youth on Screen” aims at promoting TV programming that better responds to the needs of young people, facilitates their engagement and improves the portrayal of young women and men in its content. The conference launching this initiative will bring together around 50 participants from across the Southern Mediterranean region, including media professionals and civil society advocates working on youth issues, as well as programme-makers from EU countries.
Sessions will examine trends related to the needs and preferences of young people as an audience, the way in which they are represented and the extent to which their voices find a space in mainstream media, particularly television. Innovative formats from both sides of the Mediterranean will be showcased, including those creatively using social media and other online platforms to stimulate youth involvement. Young civil society representatives will share their views about the challenges of working with media actors, and examples of successful collaboration will be discussed.
Representing a unique forum for youth to engage in direct dialogue with senior media managers and TV producers, “Youth on Screen” is expected to help shape the development of TV programmes that more closely reflect the realities of youth and better respond to their expectations. It will promote the engagement of youth with media, including contributors to content production. The initiative will also facilitate training and mentoring for TV programme development, in-country meetings between programme teams and senior managers of media outlets, and a number of sub-regional gatherings of stakeholders concerned.
NET-MED Youth, a project implemented by UNESCO, includes a component encouraging the fair and objective representation of youth through quality media content; while MedMedia, which is implemented by a consortium led by BBC Media Action, facilitates media reforms and promotes public service broadcasting in the region. The Youth on Screen initiative also enjoys support from the Jordan Media Institute, the European Broadcasting Union and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.
You can follow NET-MED youth activity online through #netmedyouth.
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