The election?  To counteract this, Vibewire has partnered with YouTube to launch an online platform for young people to become involved in, and learn about the issues surrounding the upcoming federal election.

Dubbed electionWIRE, the campaign is 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.”

While there are various concerns surrounding this type of citizen journalism, electionWIRE’s integration with YouTube, and thus Google has allowed it use of Google Moderator, amongst other things, to crowd source and moderate ideas. It’s neatly integrated into the YouTube channel and is a nice demonstration of the power of having YouTube and Google’s backing.

electionWIRE has also a heavy presence in social media, including Twitter where a fun little microsite – Young People Don’t Care – adds another opportunity for engagement. While still in its early days, it does a nice job of turning the youth-apathy stereotype on its head and using it as the hook.  (via Alex @ iTWire)