Now, Journalism on YouTube!

If you thought paparazzi was bad, 'you ain't seen nothing yet'. When celebrities had reporters hogging their heels, camping outside their lavish condos and spying on their daily routines, they never knew it could get worse. But guess again, it just has.

Now everything that you do (even if you are not a celebrity), whether wise, funny or stupid, can suddenly become local news, without you even knowing it. All that is needed for that, is some 'wise alec' with a camera phone and voila! You're famous (or notorious) whether you wish to be or not. If this is the case for us mere mortals, just imagine what an impending disaster it could be for the celebs and stars.

YouTube has just launched what is called 'YouTube Direct', a new feature on the website, that allows editors on television and Internet to obtain 'citizen journalist' video footage. What is more is that YouTube has provided these editors, the access to amateur (wannabe) journalists, to be specifically asked to shoot a 'so and so' video for them.

YouTube has provided the option of seeking videos via the call-out videos posted on the site. YouTube has also allowed the people with good videos to supply their contact details on the site, thus making it easier for the editors to locate and contact them. Once a video is seen and chosen, it is the news agency's prerogative to verify their authenticity of course, and this was made very clear by Steve Grove, the YouTube head of News and Politics.

The good side of this new venture is that You Tube Direct is not based on a revenue plan, but rather is a means to bring good videos out in the limelight and provide the video provider with his deserved recognition. There is also a flip side to it though. While the intention may obviously not be to sabotage celebrities, it may actually be the case in reality. While the seekers may be seeking real live footage of natural disasters and newsworthy local brawls, the so-called citizen journalists may be more interested in the 'who's out with whom', 'who's on it and not' and 'is that Xyz in that compromising position with Abc?' kind of 'news' stories.

This service is currently undergoing testing and those involved in its testing are the Huffington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle and Politico to name a few. When this service is fully live, there are two things that will happen. The good thing will be that live footage of earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis will be easily available to the general public. The bad thing is that we might be bolstering the 'paparazzi' culture even worse now, by giving everyone the means to rip up someone's life to gain his one moment of fame. All we can do is wait and watch, for things to unfold on their own.