ACTIVISM WITHOUT ACTIVISTS: NEWS MEDIA COVERAGE OF YOUTH AS ILLEGITIMATE POLITICAL AGENTS IN THE VIRGINITY-PLEDGE MOVEMENT AND GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCES^*

How do news media portray collective action involving activists who are deemed illegitimate political actors? The news media has a well-documented tendency to disparage adult activists by excluding their voices from coverage, attacking their political identities, and minimizing their collective action outcomes. However, the perceived illegitimacy of youth activists suggests they have no voices to be excluded, no political identities to be attacked, and no outcomes to minimize. This study analyzes coverage of the virginity pledge movement and gay-straight alliances in nationally circulated newspapers across two decades. Findings indicate youth activists' illegitimacy actually guaranteed youth a voice in the news media, but this came with unintended consequences. The news media used this perceived illegitimacy to undermine youth activists in three ways: (1) restricting youth voices to personal (apolitical) testimonies, (2) engaging in displaced disparagement by attacking adults and other legitimate targets, and (3) holding adults accountable for collective action outcomes.