Side note: A read through FOX's terms of use leads to several questions of the Outfoxed variety. "FOX has created this Site for your personal enjoyment, entertainment and education," is just one little tidbit. (Note: there's no mention of providing a source of news.)
It was inevitable, but YouTube has joined the ranks of CNN, FOX, CBS, and [Neighborhood
America]() in calling for the average citizen to submit their own news stories.
American Service
Thanks to better, cheaper, and easier access to video equipment, there's an amazing amount of news being reported on YouTube every single day by citizens in all corners of the globe. You're conducting interviews with local community leaders, doing weekly reports on the latest campus news for your school television station, and investigating untold stories you think the world should know about. This stuff is fantastic, but we want to see more from you all and to bring more citizen journalists into the fold.
-Meet the new YouTube News Manager
Ars Techina reports:
Already the Citizen News channel has subscribed to over 70 of YouTube's citizen journalists who are reporting on various issues and niches. "Texascountryreporter," for example, covers "the backroads of Texas to find the people and places who make the Lone Star State one-of-a-kind." "TheRealNews" is a "global online video news network" with impressive production values, boasting "thousands of $10 donations" from users around the world.
-News unfiltered: YouTube embraces citizen journalism
Personally, I have yet to decide if citizen journalism is a good thing for the Media Industry. On the one hand, more people involved in the Fourth Estate is undoubtedly a good thing, especially considering the political landscape of today. On the other, it feel like a cop out for professional journalists to lazily allow the public to do their jobs for them.