Everyday on the CitizenTube channel (and @CitizenTube on Twitter), along with our curation partners @storyful, we look at how the top news stories are covered on YouTube. Each week we post a weekly recap of the top news stories of the week, as seen through the lens of both citizen-reported footage and professional news coverage.
We were saddened to hear of the death of conservative journalist Andrew Breitbart, who died of unexpected natural causes, aged 43, while walking this week.
On the one year anniversary of the Christchurch earthquake, the New Zealand Herald is providing full coverage of the city’s memorial services on YouTube, commemorating the lives that were lost and those who are still affected by the tragedy. The live-stream of the memorial services starts today on NZ Herald’s YouTube channel.
On February 22, 2011, Christchurch was rocked by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake, killing 185 people and devastating much of the historic city centre. The state broadcaster’s raw coverage of the immediate aftermath was one of the most-viewed videos on YouTube on that day, as millions of people around the world stopped to watch the tragedy unfold.
Quakes have continued in Christchurch over the last year. Despite this hardship, we remain inspired by the great resilience of the city’s residents, who have worked hard toward rebuilding their hometown and keeping alive the memory of the tragedy.
Everyday on the CitizenTube channel (and @CitizenTube on Twitter), along with our curation partners @storyful, we look at how the top news stories are covered on YouTube. Each week we post a weekly recap of the top news stories of the week, as seen through the lens of both citizen-reported footage and professional news coverage.
We paid tribute to the late Whitney Houston by compiling some of her all time classic performances.
Finally, we gave into 'Linsanity' as NBA star Jeremy Lin's popularity exploded worldwide after he hit a last-second 3-pointer to win a game for the New York Knicks.
Come back next week to see the news unfold on YouTube.
Everyday on the CitizenTube channel (and @CitizenTube on Twitter), along with our curation partners @storyful, we look at how the top news stories are covered on YouTube. Each week we post a weekly recap of the top news stories of the week, as seen through the lens of both citizen-reported footage and professional news coverage.
We followed the GOP candidates continue their toil on the US campaign trail as Rick Santorum pulled off the hat-trick of Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri.
We were saddened as scores were killed or injured after a powerful earthquake rocked the Philippines.
We viewed pro & anti-Putin protesters brave the cold in Moscow to voice their opinion of Russia's polemical Prime Minister.
To help you learn about the big stories of the week, we’re kicking off a new series from CitizenTube, a YouTube channel focusing on global news and politics.
Everyday on the CitizenTube channel (and @CitizenTube on Twitter), along with our curation partners @storyful, we look at how the top news stories are covered on YouTube. Each week, starting today, we'll post a weekly recap of the top news stories of the week, as seen through the lens of both citizen-reported footage and professional news coverage.
We followed the GOP candidates do battle in Florida as tensions grew on the US campaign trail, with Mitt Romney emerging as the comprehensive victor in the Sunshine state.
We watched social networking giant Facebook announce that it was going public, as it sought to raise $5bn in the largest IPO by a technology company.
We saw Novak Djokovic defeat Rafael Nadal to claim the Australian Open final, in a match that will go down in history as one of the greatest of all time.
And finally, we looked forward to Super Bowl XLVI, as some companies released advanced versions of their half-time commercials.
You asked, and today President Obama will answer. This afternoon at 2:30 p.m. PT (5:30 pm ET), President Obama will head to the Roosevelt Room of the White House to connect face-to-face with people across America over a live Google+ Hangout. This first-ever virtual interview will be streamed live on the White House YouTube Channel so you’ll have a front row seat.
In the past week, over 225,000 of you have asked a question or cast a vote on the White House YouTube channel, voicing your interest in everything from military benefits to online poker, outsourcing to the Occupy movement. During today’s post-State of the Union interview, a selection of the top-voted YouTube questions will be asked, and several participants will actually join the President in the live Google+ Hangout to pose their questions directly.
Tune in today to watch Your Interview with President Obama live at 2:30 p.m. PT on youtube.com/whitehouse and see how President Obama addresses the issues that you care about.
If you could hang out with President Obama, what would you ask him? Would your question be about jobs or unemployment? The threat of nuclear weapons? Immigration reform? Whatever your question is, submit it on YouTube for the opportunity to ask the President directly in a special interview over a Google+ Hangout from the White House.
On Monday, January 30, a few days after delivering his State of the Union address to the nation, President Obama will answer a selection of top-voted questions you’ve submitted in a live-streamed interview. Starting today through January 28, you can visit the White House YouTube channel to submit your video and text questions and vote on your favorites. Your YouTube questions will drive the interview, and several participants with top-voted questions will be selected to join the President in the Google+ Hangout to take part in the conversation live.
So take out your camera, check your hair and go toyoutube.com/whitehouse to submit your question now. Need ideas? Visit youtube.com/whitehouse on Tuesday night to watch the President’s State of the Union address live. The address will be followed by the Republican response on Speaker Boehner’s YouTube channel.
Video questions are preferred (though we also accept text) and should be about 20 seconds long. In the video description, be sure to tell us a little bit about yourself, like where you’re from.
Your Interview with President Obama will be streamed live at 5:30 p.m. ET on January 30 on youtube.com/whitehouse. You have until midnight ET on January 28 to submit your question and make your voice heard on the issues that matter to you.
The worst terrorist attack ever on U.S. soil took place ten years ago next month. The tragic events of September 11, 2001 affected the lives of millions of people, not only in New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania, but around the world.
Working with The New York Times, we’re marking the 10th anniversary of 9/11 with a dedicated YouTube channel, featuring special content from the New York Times, archived news broadcasts from September 2001, and your own personal stories and tributes. We hope this channel will provide an enduring record of what took place on that day.
We’re asking you to share with us:
Your strongest memory of that day or that time period
How 9/11 changed you, and how you believe it changed America
What you lost — or gained -- because of 9/11
Make a video answering any of these questions and submit it to youtube.com/September11. A selection of your videos will be featured on the The New York Times website and YouTube homepage on September 11 this year.
Through telling and sharing stories, we can all hope to make sense of an event that, for many of us, was one of the defining moments of our lives. Thank you for sharing yours.
There are few areas in the world where the ubiquity of the web means more than in the Palestinian territories. In a place where conflict is a part of daily life, and land disputes prevent the kind of geographical freedom most of us take for granted, it’s platforms like YouTube that are allowing people to broadcast their ideas to the rest of the world—and to tell stories that aren’t being told by other media outlets.
A few weeks ago, as part of our efforts to broaden YouTube’s news content partnerships, I spent a week with some other Googlers in Gaza and the West Bank. I met with news organizations, bloggers, local officials, and young people—all of whom were eager to tell their stories on video. In the last month, over 16,000 videos have been uploaded to YouTube from the Palestinian territories, despite low access to 3G networks and broadband Internet. And of the more than 75,000 videos uploaded from the territories this year, 5,000+ were tagged as news and politics videos:
Sleepless in Gaza is an innovative 90-part (!) reality show on YouTube featuring six women who travel in the Palestinian territories and document their experiences. It drew such a following on YouTube that it’s now being optioned for TV series in the U.S.
The Maan News Agency, the top online Palestinian news site, has begun uploading its video reports to YouTube to share with the world.
Videos covering the March 15 demonstrations (which were held to demand unity between competing Palestinian political parties, Hamas and Fatah) saw many views on YouTube as conflict broke out between demonstrators and Hamas.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has a YouTube channel they use to tell the stories of Gazans they work with in schools and other projects.
The Global Citizen Corps, a group of young bloggers organized by the international NGO Mercy Corps to do community service and media training, has a robust YouTube channel with videos made by young people telling the story of Gaza through their eyes.
The Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, once the state media outlet of President Abbas’ Fatah, has recently decided to hire an independent board of directors and produce content outside the influence of the government (on a model that might end up quite like PBS).
Meeting with bloggers in Ramallah
Meeting with bloggers in Gaza
It’s in Gaza (the part of the Palestinian territories that are run by Hamas) where media freedoms have a ways to go. Journalists told us they’d been jailed for writing articles critical of Hamas, and one news organization had their office broken into and computers stolen when their pages held criticism of the government. And, after growing to 1,200 members, the Global Citizen Corps caught the attention of the government and was disbanded by the organizers for a while to protect members.
But the people of the Palestinian territories want desperately to tell a story of the region that gets beyond stereotypes. The images we see in Western media, of a place fraught with conflict and despair, doesn’t tell the real story of the territories, they told us. Some Palestinian entrepreneurs even created a new travel website, highlighting the best there is to see in the region.
It’s been said before, but it’s true: it’s the young people in the Middle East who will make change. Seventy percent of the people in Gaza are under 30. In Israel, 30 percent of the population is under 14. Several bloggers told us they had relationships with Israeli youth on the Internet; their hope is that YouTube and other platforms will help them communicate beyond the seemingly intractable political battles between their leaders and start conversations that will lead to new opportunities for peace.
