The way that the Edmonton Journal has dealt with the twenty something demographic is invent a new section - "ed", short for Edmonton. The writers are young, as is the editor, a Sean Ohler.

I have written for them, as have many of the Gateway crew, and his mandate seems to be new writers and new ideas. Many times this works, but often it seems patronizing, with the slightly risque top ten lists, a new comic by Mike Winters, who has been known for dick jokes up to that point, a profile of a twenty something, a well photographed design what to buy section etc.

He has done some innovative things though, it is called a magazine, and is a broadsheet section inside the main papers similar to "the alternative weeklies", he had a graphic novel about crime in the last two issues, when I wrote a first person peice, i think i was the first man to use the word shit in that daily and he let me compare my laughter to copulating donkeys.

The Sun just intergrates seasoned hipsters into their entertainment copy, like Steve Tilley and Fish Griwkowsky, but they may not be twenty somethings anymore, and have the stench of people who stayed too long at the party.

In many ways, it feels like youth are being patronized or ghettoized, the news and hard issues that are vital are swept under the carpet or allowed to be taken up by inserts and campus paper.

I read the Journal daily, and have been since i was old enough to read. I do it now out of force of habit, not because it is telling me anything new or exciting. It bores me, most of the content designed for a demographic above me.

Maybe it cannot keep up with the cynicism, if we assume that the news refuses to tell the truth because of money, and many of us 20somethings do, what can a paper do to convince us otherwise.

As a writer, they are already cutting staff, amalgmatiing editorials under a common banner, letting idiot boomers write reviews and ignore any of the events we go to. The only youthful entertainment writers, Sandra Sperounes, is stuck reviewing Avril instead of hall shows and the equivlant at the Sun (whose name i forget), gets to review punk 7 inches, but doesnt get to see anything live.

Thats the other thing, this is all entertainment stuff, this is all breads and circuses, why arent we getting news or opinon or anything but the fluff. I feel disenfranchised.