Young People and Broadcasting - Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

Part 3
The Young Adult Unit:
what sort of Young Adult Unit is feasible?
8.1 The sketch of the national context for the Young Adult Unit in Part One of this report
drew positive conclusions for the establishment of the Unit, and Part Two has described a
wide range of local activities and interests within which a Young Adult Unit might operate.
It was concluded in Part One that potential consensus and funding exists for some form of
Young Adult Unit to assist in the development of additional programmes and also for local
broadcasting projects to be launched. The Unit should have a practical and operational role
to be effective.
8.2 The character of the Unit as a practical and operational team (rather than a research
or lobbying body) is most important, especially when establishing itself. Thus, the launching
of the Unit will require:
a) selecting a limited number of young adult broadcasting projects around the country to
which it can provide direct assistance while encouraging local organisations to become
active on young adult initiatives in their own areas;
b) undertaking tasks and looking after production detail which the broadcasters require
and which they believe they are unable to do themselves, thus matching the Unit's services
to defined broadcasters' needs; and
e) acting as a broker between broadcasting organisations and external agencies, such as the
MSC.
On this basis, the detailed outline of the Unit needs to state
— the precise remit of the Unit;
— the location and management of the Unit;
— the funding of the Unit.
The Remit
8.3 a) The Unit's remit needs to extend to all mass media organisations, including broadcasting
and print media, and external agencies wishing to link up with the media, but its
interest in youth affairs should be carefully restricted to the role of young adults as viewers,
listeners, readers or participants in mass media. There is, arguably, already a proliferation
of bodies concerned with 'youth' in Britain and an additional one would need to have such
a defined remit concerned only with the media;
b) the Unit should identify and co-ordinate the role of differing agencies in providing
accompaniments and follow-up to programmes. Where materials need to be developed, the
Unit should advise on the appropriate body to do this;
e) the Unit should work effectively with statutory agencies and established organisations
making provision for young people and integrate their activities at the earliest stages in
specific project planning;
d) the Unit should have a general informational role, disseminating information about good
practice and encouraging the interest of broadcasting and non-broadcasting organisations
in more and better media output for young adults;
e) the Unit should, where possible, secure the involvement of young people in the planning
and production of programmes;
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