Google vibes up Australian youth through YouTube and electionWIRE

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Thursday, 22 July 2010 14:52

Your IT - Entertainment

A day after the announcement that Google will soon be launching its Election 2010 initiatives with Federal politicians, its own engineers and amongst others, YouTube videos from the public, comes the announcement that VibeWire Youth Inc has joined forces with YouTube so “citizen reporters” can “report the election their way”. Will it get your vote?

VibeWire Youth Inc says that it is an “innovative non-profit youth organisation providing media, arts & entrepreneurial opportunities and events for young people”, and will be getting a ton of publicity today as it teams up with Google’s YouTube to bring us “electionWIRE on YouTube”.

“electionWIRE” is meant to be a “dedicated channel for young Australians to have their say and to report the news of the Federal election their way” and will feature “video news, interviews, opinions and debate from a team of newly recruited and trained Vibewire Youthscape reporters, alongside citizen contributors from the YouTube community.” 

The Google and VibeWire Youth press release continues, saying that: “The new recruits are stationed across Australia, armed with cameras, guided by questions and ideas posted to the electionWIRE YouTube channel, and supported by a senior editorial team.

“The community can submit and vote on videos, suggestions and ideas that interest them most via the Google Moderator tool on the channel. Whether they’re talking about youth unemployment, immigration, the ETS, homelessness or health, electionWIRE reporters will be asking the hard questions and getting unpredictable answers.”

Annie Le Cavalier, Director Vibewire Youth Inc said that: “Young people can shape their world when given the opportunity. electionWIRE is an opportunity to showcase the voices of a new generation of reporters. We want young people to report the election their way, to tell the stories that matter to them and to join in the debate on YouTube.”

Karen Stocks, Head of YouTube, Australia said that: “Video is a powerful tool for democracy. These days anyone with a camera, an Internet connection and a YouTube channel can be a reporter. We’re thrilled to partner with Vibewire and provide the platform for electionWIRE news and perspectives from young Australians.”

VibeWire itself says that “to help get the nation involved”, it is “working with youth and policy networks including the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition and Left-Right Think Tank to provide assistance for any young person who wants to upload a video to electionWIRE”.

VibeWire also notes that: “Content partners include The Centre for Policy Development and Express Media, who will complement the electionWIRE video coverage with articles and political analysis. The Vibewire team will also be on hand to provide budding citizen journalists with resources to develop their stories, including training videos and fact-sheets on everything from video techniques to the political system.”

The press release tells us that “Australians are wired for a digital election”, and that through electionWIRE, “user generated video will shape the game this time around. This is a new era in political debate and this time, young people are not just watching election coverage, they are creating it.”

So, if you want to be a “citizen reporter” and “report it your way”, there’s now a channel full of the right vibes to help you get your story aired, and if you’re got a camera phone or digital camera with video capabilities, or a video camera, you can report… and (with apologies to Fox News for borrowing their slogan)… your viewers can decide.

Note, there is no connection between iTWire and VibeWire Youth Inc or electionWIRE.