Falling on deaf ears? An analysis of youth political claims in the European mainstream press

Abstract

There is a growing body of work on the ability of young people and minorities to have their voices heard in the public sphere, particularly with advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the emancipatory expectations that ensued. Are all young people, in all their diversity, equally likely to have their political claims relayed by the mainstream press? Is the growing prevalence of social media communication reflected in mainstream media agenda setting? Does it contribute to political equality in terms of representation in the mainstream press? This article answers these questions through a large-scale political claims analysis in 45 newspapers across 9 European countries. It comes to confirm the theoretical underpinnings laid out by scholars like Herman and Chomsky with their analysis of media agenda setting and power relations, or Chantal Mouffe and her notion of agonistic pluralism and the need to address unequal access to the public sphere. Overall, our findings suggest that young people in general, but even more so disadvantaged youth socio-economic groups still seem highly misrepresented in mainstream newspapers, and that the increasing prevalence of social media communication does not seem reflected in mainstream media agenda setting.