Watch out Rupert! - YouTube wants to be top news destination

Stuart Corner
Monday, 26 May 2008 07:54

Opinion and Analysis

Google subsidiary YouTube has launched a CitizenNews section with the stated aim of becoming "the go to destination for news on the web." With many people now going first to Google for news does this mean they could soon not be going to traditional news sites at all!

In a recent posting on the YouTube blog ,  newly appointed YouTube news manager, Olivia M, introduces herself saying: "there's an amazing amount of news being reported on YouTube every single day by citizens in all corners of the globe...This stuff is fantastic, but we want to see more from you all and to bring more citizen journalists into the fold. So here's where I turn to you guys for help! If you see examples of fellow YouTubers doing great work in journalism and reporting, please let me know. If you're a citizen journalist yourself, tell me how YouTube could better serve you. I want to hear how you guys envision news on YouTube and what you'd like to see. My ultimate mission is to make the site a go-to destination for news on the web."

Of course that is not going to happen overnight and of course the 'traditional' media organisations will argue that citizen journalism is no substitute for professional journalism (but nevertheless they are all embarking on 'citizen journalism' initiatives  that invite the general public to contribute photos and videos to their online sites.)

Gartner analyst, Allen Weiner, was dismissive of the plan saying: "This effort appears to be a good-natured attempt at empowering citizens to tell stories, but in no way should it be labelled 'news' or anything even close." And he contrasted it to Vancouver based NowPublic , "a company that understands the power of citizen media and its relationship to the news," saying it had "built out a portal, platform and set of very handy tools, which has resulted in what most critics agree is the model for citizen media...NowPublic understands that credibility with consumers (and now with newspapers, which take his company very seriously) is what builds brand. NowPublic has tamed the citizen media mess by instituting a layer of checks and balances in the form of volunteer editors, experienced guides and a group of staff editors (including a former BBC News exec) who become final arbiters for content quality. YouTube's efforts only help to make NowPublic's case that citizen media is not easy and requires more than a name and fairly good intentions."

CitizenNews may be little more than a name at present, but the move is significant because for the first time a part of the Google empire has moved to become a primary source of online news rather than simply an aggregator pointing news seekers to other sources.
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