YouTube Tries To Help Media Find More Free Video

MICHAEL LIEDTKE

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — YouTube is trying to help shrinking newsrooms expand their video coverage without increasing their payrolls.

The assist comes in the form of "YouTube Direct," a free tool made for media interested in amateur video of calamities, protests or other newsworthy events. The application was debuting Tuesday as a way for news organizations to solicit and show videos on their own Web sites.

As the Internet's most popular video site, YouTube already has become a prime outlet for so-called "citizen journalism" — visual or written reporting submitted by people who don't work in a newsroom.

But finding interesting clips while the news is still hot can be difficult, given that about 20 hours of video is posted to YouTube every minute.

YouTube believes news videos will stand out more quickly if they're endorsed by professional editors or prominent bloggers. In return, broadcasters and newspapers could get compelling video to supplement their coverage. It would run on the main YouTube site in addition to the news agency's site.