Less than 1 in 4 stories about young people in the national media are positive, according to a survey out today.
Broadcast media is particularly negative, showing young people in an unfavourable light in 87% of coverage.
The survey found many items on young people had a "headline-grabbing" emphasis on problem behaviour including violence and crime.
While adults were quoted in 38% of stories about young people, a young person's quotation appeared in only 11% of the coverage, the survey by TNS Media Intelligence for Young People Now magazine found.
The survey covered all daily and Sunday nationals, all major and most of the smaller broadcast news outlets, monitoring coverage for one week in May.
The findings are being launched today at the start of the national Youth Summit in London.
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Maria Ahmed