Youth-powered or empowered: How self-determination theory can help us better understand youth media dynamics with adult facilitators during the pandemic

Youth media literature celebrates youth voice but rarely discusses the power dynamics between adult mentors and youth. This case study explores these power dynamics in cultivating trust between teenagers creating community media and their adult mentors on Chicago’s South Side. The authors identified three self-determination themes relating to these power dynamics between the youth and adults in the production process during the COVID-19 pandemic: (1) generating routines to foster a sense of competency; (2) having a sense of belonging by creating caring interactions; (3) allowing participants to voice their opinion to increase their sense of autonomy. Being Black teenagers in the middle of the pandemic along with the social unrest was challenging. Creating their own media for a specific target audience in their community, instead of a cable TV channel, supported the youth’s sense of power to come intrinsically and not from the adult facilitators.