Cushion, Stephen. Protesting their Apathy?

An Analysis of British Press Coverage of

Young anti-Iraq War Protestors. Journal of Youth Studies 10.4 (2007): 419-437. Print.
Stephen Cushion, a journalist at Cardiff School of Journalism, did research on young peoples
attitudes towards the war in Iraq and reported his findings in the Journal of Youth Studies in
2007. The younger generation was very active in the anti-Iraq War protesting, and this raised
questions about how informed young people are regarding the war.
This political behavior in young people could possibly have been connected to the amount of
communication they now had with the rest of the world, as Cushion writes, We often hear from
journalists that young people are more interested in watching and voting in reality game shows
than taking part in general elections (420).
A large part of the younger generations involvement with the war protests was also due to
celebrity influence. Cushion reported, The fact that 18 per cent of all articles involving young
protestors featured, in part, celebrity involvement would perhaps be seen by organizers as a
success, in managing to garner stories that might not necessarily have been written (432). This
points to the fact that young people were highly influenced to what they were exposed to in
everyday life.
Other quotes: Academics, politicians and media commentators have all, in different ways,
expressed concern about young peoples apparent disengagement with politics and public affairs
(419).

The fact that 18 per cent of all articles involving young protestors featured, in part, celebrity
involvement would perhaps be seen by organizers as a success, in managing to garner stories that
might not necessarily have been written (432).
Whether or not audiences were, in fact, informed about such issues is, however, unclear. It is
certainly debatable whether many could see beyond the chaos and violent imagery (433).
Indeed, the editorial agendas of UK newspapers certainly shaped the extent and nature of many
young peoples mediated public opinions towards the 2003 war in Iraq (435).
Analysis: This article focuses on teenagers. My inquiry question focuses on citizens in general,
but this gives insight on teenagers in particular. I completely agree with the fact that younger
people are swayed by the Internet, celebrities, as well as exposure to world issues.
This article is easy to read and gives very straightforward information. The data is not as rich as
my other articles, but I dont really need that much data on young people. This article supports
claims concerning the younger generations attitudes towards war, and how it differs from that of
the older generation.