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Why are young people alienated from television news? This book argues that contemporary trends indicating deepening disconnection from news about public life reflect both problems in the way television news covers politics - the single biggest item on the news - and problems with the nature of politics itself under neo-liberal capitalism.

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Acknowledgements Introduction The Crisis of Political Representation Young People, Politics and Television Broadcasters´ Perspectives Content Analysis of Television News The Symbolic Criminalisation of Young People The Monopolisation of Political Discourse The Boundaries of Political Debate: Animal Rights Apathetic or Excluded? Young People, News and the Electronic Media Talk Back: Young Audiences and Reception Conclusion: Is Another Television News Paradigm Possible? Bibliography Notes Index

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´A wonderfully thought-provoking rejoinder to those who maintain that the media defends liberty through the dominance of the commercial market. Written by experienced scholars in the field who provide some fascinating insights into the hidden world of senior newscasters and producers.´ - Brian D. Loader, University of York, UK

´...a well constructed book, with plenty of empirical material as well as argument.´ - Soundings

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MIKE WAYNE is Professor in Screen Media at Brunel University, UK.

CRAIG MURRAY has a Ph.D. from the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. He has worked on research projects at Liverpool University and Brunel University in London, UK, and is currently chief media analyst at a media monitoring company in Oslo, Norway.

JULIAN PETLEY is Professor of Screen Media and Journalism in the School of Arts, Brunel University, UK. His most recent publication is Censorship: A Beginner´s Guide (2009). He is co-principal editor of the Journal of British Cinema and Television, and chair of the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom.

LESLEY HENDERSON is Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Communications in the School of Social Sciences, Brunel University, UK. She has published widely on factual and fictional media production and public understandings of diverse issues. Her most recent book is Social Issues in Television Fiction (2007).

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