According to the British Crime Survey, readers of national tabloids were about twice as likely as those who read national broadsheets to think the national crime rate had increased a lot in the previous two years to 2007/08 when in fact it had gone down. Our surveys showed that 57% of adults thought that young people are more violent than they were 10 years ago, even though statistics show that isn’t the case.
Young people aged 16-24 are most likely to be victims of violent crime compared to other groups. However our survey showed that both adults and young people thought that young people being the perpetrators of crime would receive the most coverage in national and local papers, even though in reality young people as victims of crime receive the most coverage.
Here are some video reports by Headliner's journalists about their views on young people's representation in the press and stereotyping:
