Drawing on a survey completed by 699 young people in the UK at the beginning of the 2003 war in Iraq, this article explores young people's reactions to how young anti-war protestors were represented in news media. The survey taps into young people's opinions at a key democratic moment when many school children — to the surprise of many politicians and journalists — took to the streets to demonstrate their opposition to UK foreign policy making.
The findings suggest that news coverage of the anti-war protests discouraged some young people from participating in the political public sphere. Many respondents also provided suggestions as to how news media could renew a sense of political efficacy amongst young people in ways that might encourage a greater connection between their political beliefs and key democratic structures.
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