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Where is the Media Taking Today's Youth?
By Linda A. Annan
With the direction today's media is taking, one has to wonder about the effect it is having on the youth. The disappointing focus on negative and superficial subjects has proven to leave no room for youth empowerment or positive change. However, some young entrepreneurs are combating this problem by introducing new media outlets that are targeted at today's youth, creating a positive environment that welcomes and challenges them to utilize their mental and creative skills.
One such outlet is Reel Youth, which encourages and assists youth filmmakers in creating projects through specific programs and their annual film festivals. These programs are designed around identifiable issues that are of much concern to the youth participants and they work together to form solutions to these problems.
The advisory board is comprised of dedicated teenagers devoted to creating a positive change in the world. Facilitators sometimes travel to different countries and communities and work with groups of youth in making short films. In the film making process, they receive answers to questions concerning things they would like to see changed both in their communities and the world.
The Bavubuka Foundation is another empowerment channel devoted to creating a similar cause among today's youth in Uganda. It prides itself by saying, “We are the next generation who must receive this world from the ones who have come before us. We take this responsibility in full.” The Bavubuka Foundation is currently building a community center in Kampala, Uganda, which will serve as a growth facility that fosters positive change in the lives of children who may not have the luxury of such a space. It also intends to involve international advocates in creating art and self-development programs for children and young adults in the area.
Another such project that seeks to contribute to youth empowerment but takes a slightly different route through cultural empowerment is Sweet Mother Tour (SMT). Part of its mission states, "For too long the media has portrayed Africa and African people in a light that belies true beauty and power of our cultures, and has propagated self-destructive and disempowering ideas to Africa's future leaders.” Members of the SMT have taken it upon themselves to change this biased view through videos and seminars designed to educate the rest of the world about Africa.
Today's youth seem to be pushing past the negative patterns of the media. In a live interactive online workshop by SMT in October, a Reel Youth representative pointed out that, “(the youth) are aware that they're not getting the whole story and thus starting their own forms of media…(Reel Youth projects) have been very well received by other youth and audiences.” It is hopeful that every youth will eventually have easy access to a media outlet that houses and encourages self-empowerment.
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