SAN BRUNO, CALIF.:YouTube is generating its own form of local news, according to The New York Times. The user-generated video Web site has launched “News Near You,” an application that interprets where a user is located and provides a list of related content. Most of this related content is from around 200 “nontraditional” sources, including colleges and citizen journalists. The outlets are invited to post news and split the revenues with YouTube.
Legitimate news outlets already supply video to the YouTube, including ABC News, Associated Press, Reuters and others that generally are global and national in focus. News Near You uses a module that collects videos related to a 100-mile radius of a user. A YouTube executive told the newspaper that around 5 percent of News Near You users watch at least one video.
The problem, as with much about YouTube, is finding the application. It’s neither listed on the front page nor within the News & Politics category. It’s not defined as a channel and a search on the site for “News Near You” renders a raft of music videos, a couple of parodies and a video from NASA.
--Deborah D. McAdams
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