When the head of the BBC World Service and Global News Division reported that they had used many video clips, images, and reports from “ordinary citizens” during the July 7, 2005 bombings, it confirmed what our UK “Cred Report” stated in our recently released European Youth Culture Study 2005. During the data-gathering of this year’s European Study, Label Networks’ field research managers had often reported that trends in technology, electronics, and mobile phones included that young people are capturing more of the “news” than professional news teams—especially in London.

“Mobile phones with 2 Mega pixel cameras are helping to fuel newspaper content where photographers aren’t fast enough and the public are already there,” stated Label Networks’ field research manager in London. The growing trend of citizen journalism is also popular among young people in the UK because of the close association of the press as being one of the cooler and more glamorous jobs to have among young people.

“Photography in general is growing in popularity,” reports our UK manager, “because it’s considered to be arty, shows talent, and is cool plus it’s associated with the media industry which many young people are keen to get into because it’s known to be fun, young, and social with potential of mixing with famous people.”

All of these aspects have turned what the BBC now calls themselves, “facilitators of news” as part of their new job description. As reported in the AP, Richard Sambrook from BBC said, “We don’t own the news any more…This is a fundamental realignment of the relationship between large media companies and the public.”

With the growing access to technology and communication tools, it’s usually young people who pick up on such trends the fastest. Like blogging, the advent of consumer-based reporting from the bottom-up vs. the top-down is going to be a major part of the media landscape in the near future.

For more information about the European Youth Culture Study 2005, please contact us at info@labelnetworks.com.