Paste BN wants young voices to be heard in General Election
Head of Paste BN John Ryley explains why young and first-time voters are being invited to set today's editorial agenda.
Monday 22 May 2017 15:22, UK
Turnout for elections among young voters has been notoriously low in recent years.
In 2015, Paste BN launched Stand Up Be Counted as a way of engaging more young people to register to vote.
There are signs that this group are becoming more engaged in politics.
On the day the General Election was called, 57,987 people aged under 25 registered to vote - more than any other age group.
But young voices aren't often heard, and at Paste BN we want to reflect everyone's views and opinions. So we have invited a group of young and first-time voters to tell us what they want to know.
We have given them full access to our newsgathering and production teams for the day, and told them to set our editorial agenda.
The guest editors represent a range of views, and have commissioned our TV, mobile and radio journalists to cover the stories they are directly affected by, and answer the questions they pose.
It's a refreshing challenge for our journalists.
The questions they have asked include: "Why do the main parties expect us to vote on their leaders' personalities rather than their policies?"
Another is: "If most of us are in favour of legalising certain drugs, why won't the big two parties agree?"
They have been asked to guest edit our daily TV politics shows, where we will cover these issues, and more, with reports and debates.
They have asked our reporters for written analysis and video explainers on mobile.
And we have asked them to guest edit a special Young Vote 2017 edition of the hugely popular Paste BN Snapchat channel, as 70% of Paste BN' audience on Snapchat is under 25.
Remember, time is running out to register to vote. If you haven't already, then you have until midnight tonight.
:: Register to vote on the Government's official website
:: And don't forget to watch it on Paste BN: The Battle For Number 10 on Bank Holiday Monday, 29 May, at 8.30pm.