One of the greatest developments of the past few years is the ability for just about anybody to become a citizen reporter on YouTube – whether that means posting video from inside Iran in the midst of a media blackout or going around the often biased mainstream media here in the U.S. to break news and deliver your message unfiltered directly to your target audiences. Or just asking your local Member of Congress why he secured a particular pork-barrel earmark, and exposing him as a jerk in the process.
Now the folks at YouTube have set up a new “Reporters Center,” which they say is designed to help you report the news. It’s a decent idea and it includes several videos featuring helpful tips from people who have had success reporting news on YouTube.
Curiously, however, the channel also features videos from some of the old media’s most sclerotic institutions: the New York Times, CBS News, and the Washington Post. In one video, NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristoff offers advice about how to cover a global crisis. Tips include not arguing with guys with big guns, and remembering that “Americans typically don’t care about thousands of people starving. But they can be made to care about one individual.” As if people in every other country don’t also make a deeper connection when a story is personalized – so why limit the statement to “Americans?” It’s exactly this kind of sneering anti-Americanism that is leading the old dinosaur media into bankruptcy, so why turn to them to explain what works on YouTube?
In another video, Katie Couric offers advice on how to conduct a good interview: “It’s important to be a gracious host… I always try to be very warm and welcoming…” You know – just like she was in those Sarah Palin interviews.
So go ahead and check out YouTube’s Reporters Center and start being a citizen journalist. Just stick to the videos from real citizen journalists – not the ones who are being put out of business by them.
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