This research has been commissioned by the Spanish Instituto de la Juventud (INJUVE). The aim of the research was to determine the relationship between the mass media representations of youth issues and the youth’s general situation. Specifically, the Institute was interested in the study of the youth’s image in the media, as well as in observing how they are presented to the public and under which circumstances they appear in the news. This article describes the objectives, methodology and main results of the investigation. In particular, the young people’s representations elaborated by the Spanish mass media were analyzed through the study of a sample of the news which appeared in the press, the radio, and the television during 2006.