We all know there are problems with how the media covers sexuality, broadly speaking. As recent research shows, there aren’t nearly enough women in positions of power at media organizations, not to mention reporters, editors, and senior-level media makers of color, LGBT individuals, people with disabilities who aren’t white and of some means—I could go on. This deficiency makes people without full representation vulnerable to ruthless attacks by privileged journalists and their careless editors and publishers.

Beyond how the media covers female sexuality and the sexuality of individuals whose gender expressions don’t fit neatly into society’s gender binary system, there’s another group that the media fails when it comes to coverage regarding sexuality: youth. It’s important that we think about how the media could be more thoughtful in its coverage of youth sexuality because equality doesn’t start and end with gender. “Youth” is just one of many identities we experience during our lives, and stigmatizing or shaming a person because of age fails any social movement fighting against oppression.

At a recent convening in Detroit, media makers, youth activists and advocates, and researchers got together to discuss the state of the media’s coverage of youth sexuality, where it falls short, and how these stakeholders could better work together. As Alex Kulick, project manager of Detroit Youth Passages, which hosted the event, told Rewire, the Youth Sexuality Media Forum invited groups—including California Latinas for Reproductive Justice, the Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance, the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health, Camino PR, and Rewire—“to really think more about this process [for developing rich narratives about youth sexuality] that goes along with the types of content that youth-based organizations argue in a recent analysis might be better and more effective in media. But also, how do we generate that content in a long-term, sustainable way.”