I spent an interesting hour this morning talking with some Liverpool teenagers about what they perceive as the negative images of young people we portray in the media.
I'm pleased to say they didn't pick out the Liverpoool Daily Post for particular attention in this regard, but it was a lively debate, and one that left me with some food for thought.

Their particular concern was that when young people are involved in crime or anti-social behaviour they receive front page prominence, but when they are doing something positive and worthwhile, it is hard for them to get coverage at all.
It is a tough issue. Anti-social behaviour is one of the biggest curses of modern society, and whether we like it or not, a lot of it is carried out by young people. Can we ignore it? Clearly not.
In terms of the positive portrayal of the young, however, I don't think the Daily Post does a bad job at all. Think of all the great coverage we give to the success stories when examination results come out, for example.
The trick, sometimes, is getting to know about the really interesting positive stories surrounding the young. We talked a lot about this in our meeting, and by the time we had finished I think there was a degree of consensus that communication was the big problem. If people don't tell us the good news, we can't pass it on to you. We came up with some good ideas between us to try to improve on this.
I'd be fascinated to hear the views of our readers on this, young and old. Do we give young people a fair deal with our coverage? What could we do better?
One thing the group I met were very clear about was that one way to get a positive story in the media was to be good at sport. No argument there.
I'm personally on a bit of a high this week because a young man called Paul Waring will be playing golf in the Open at Carnoustie. Paul is a hugely promising player, with an English Amateur Championship under his belt, and a member of our Walker Cup squad - the amateur equivalent of the Ryder Cup, for non-golf fans among you.
Wirral-born Paul, a member of Bromborough Golf Club, battled his way through Open qualifying last week, and is now preparing for the biggest experience of his golfing life so far. Why am I so chuffed? Because his mother and mine were the closest of friends, and we have known Paul since he was a baby in arms. He is a polite, level-headed, intelligently spoken young man, with a frightening amount of golfing talent. He has also shown the drive and application to take advantage of his natural ability to the full, working incredibly hard to get the best out of his game. Positive role model? Can't think of a better one.

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