Abstract
Young people are excluded from the naming of social issues and from the processes of developing responses to these issues (White 1994; Bessant 1996). Youth-related issues such as juvenile crime are highlighted and policy developed with little or no attention to the perspectives of young people. This chapter explores the themes of exclusion and participation in relation to the portrayals of young people and crime in the mainstream media. Who is considered a legitimate source of information by the media, to what extent do the portrayals of juvenile crime influence policy, and how can we improve the access of young people to the media?