Here's a interesting look at the Mods and Rockers fights from Brighton in 1964 and the role of the media in generating a moral panic.
What Stanley Cohen suggests is that the Media is key to a moral panic/outrage as it's their reaction to events that colour the public and sometimes political opinion. So if the Media (specifically in this case the news) make a drama out of event or social problem, this attracts more interest, perpetuating and amplifying the initial problem.Have a look at this clip about the Acid House scene in the late 80s and the reasons why the journalist finds Acid House such a good 'story'.
Here's a clip from Charlie Brooker's Newswipe which has Dan Gardner explaining why the 'media' has a tendency to create (perhaps mediate??) moral panics.
Gardner suggests there often isn't necessary an agenda or a specific aim for the media when covering 'moral panics'. Instead there becomes an established 'narrative' which the press then look to continue. So if global warming is the big paper seller or the big story then global warming stories will be found and covered. This then spreads into other media - so sticking with the global warming idea with have all apocalyptic thrillers and disaster films - Day After Tomorrow, 2012, The Road. This also is partly because its works to sell people's fears back to them - so whatever the moral panic of the day is someone will tap into it.
Just to further ram this point home, here's Michael Moore on the demonisation of the black male in the US media.Moving this back to youth, this demonisation and coverage of today's feral youth may have started in the press but it has developed its own narrative arch and grown into other media. So it's not just Eden Lake or Harry Brown that have evil hoodies, they also turn up in The Bill, East Enders and Casualty. They have developed into such a 'type', a well understood presence in the media that they've become a stereotype that can be challenged in shows such as Misfits and made fun of (see Super Hoodie, also the public school kids in Hot Fuzz).
It's even got to the point where youth organisations are fearing the social implications of this demonisation and the charity Barnado's have exaggerated them in this hard hitting advert that is definitely worth watching.This last video is a little heavy going and concentrates on they way the Criminal Justice systems treats youths but it does raise an interesting idea of why the media does tend to focus on 'youth' in such a negative way.
It's because the state of our youth is often a symbol of how healthy a society is (try typing Broken Britain into google images and see how many pictures of youth you get). Subsequently the image of Britain's young people is a political issue which can be manipulated for a political agenda - for example Boris Johnson ran for Mayor of London with a focus of young people and crime in front of back drop of a series of high profile stabbings.