Reuters opens its Handbook wide

A few weeks ago, Reuters announced that its Handbook of Journalism would be published online for the first time. (It's now available for free at http://handbook.reuters.com.) And they've just posted this video to the Reuters' YouTube channel, featuring Dean Wright, Reuters Global Editor for Ethics, Innovation and News Standards, who introduces the handbook and explains how it can be used by professional journalists and citizen reporters, alike.

"As we've seen over the past decade," Wright notes, "the barriers to publishing have dropped so that anyone with an idea and a computer can be a publisher. But it's also become clear that publishers have varying standards of truth, fairness, and style - our handbook is a good place for you to begin to develop yours."

We encourage you to watch the video below and then dive into the Reuters' Handbook to learn just about everything you'd ever want to know about journalism from A to Z.

Helping You Report the News

[Cross-posted to the YouTube Blog]

Ever captured a natural disaster or a crime on your cell-phone camera? Filmed a political rally or protest, and then interviewed the participants afterward? Produced a story about a local issue in your community? If you've done any of these things or aspire to, then you're part of the enormous community of citizen reporters on YouTube -- and today, we're launching a new resource to help you learn more about how to report the news.

It's called The YouTube Reporters' Center, and it features some of the nation's top journalists sharing instructional videos with tips and advice for better reporting. Learn how to prepare for an interview from CBS News' Katie Couric; how to be an investigative reporter from the legendary Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, or why it's important for citizens to participate in the news-gathering process from Arianna Huffington. And definitely don't miss out on New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof's video on how to report from a crisis area without getting shot.



In addition, you can also learn practical and ethical tips, like how to fact check your stories, avoid breaking the law while reporting, and adhere to journalistic principles. Check out the Reporters' Center to see all the videos or sample a few in this playlist:



This isn't meant to be a one-way conversation. For the first time on YouTube, these reporters are making themselves available to engage with you directly. If you have experiences on reporting the news yourself and would like to share your tips, you can submit them for inclusion in the center. Upload your "how-to" videos to youtube.com/reporterscenter and share your knowledge with citizen journalists around the world.

If you're a news organization that would to become a YouTube news partner, please read more information on how to apply here.

Yours,
Olivia Ma
YouTube News & Politics

A Call to News Publishers: How to Share Your Video

[Cross-posted to the Google News Blog and the YouTube Biz Blog]

We're always looking for ways to enhance the way people consume the news, and we have some improvements planned over the next few months. To get things started, Google News and YouTube are teaming up to help news publishers build a bigger audience for their video content.

Today we are inviting any professional news outlet that is already included as one of the 25,000+ sources in Google News to become an official partner on YouTube and more easily share your news videos on both YouTube and Google News. Not already included in Google News? Just submit your site here for review.

Here are some of the benefits for News publishers who join the YouTube Partner Program:

• Featured Premium Placement. YouTube news partners receive featured placement on the YouTube news page, youtube.com/news, where we feature news videos from partners related to the top news stories on Google News. In addition, if you allow your videos to be embedded, they'll be eligible to appear on Google News, which means additional exposure to all Google News users.

• Cut Costs, Generate Revenue. YouTube offers free hosting for all of your video content and allows you to embed your videos anywhere on the web for free. And as an official YouTube partner, you're eligible to participate in an advertising revenue share program.

• Viewership Analysis. Learn more about the people viewing and interacting with your videos. Use YouTube's Insight tool to easily discover troves of useful demographic information and understand what parts of your videos people liked or didn't like. Geographic information provided can help you focus your marketing efforts.

• Wider Audience. YouTube and Google News have millions of visitors every day searching for the latest news and information. Raise awareness around your brand and reach new audiences by making your video content available on YouTube and Google News. As a YouTube partner, you can maintain your brand's look-and-feel with your own customized YouTube channel, and you can also drive traffic back to your own website.

• Community. At its core, YouTube is a rich social environment that includes thousands of micro-communities. Build one around your content by encouraging people to interact through comments and video responses. Take advantage of YouTube as a social platform.

To get started, apply to the YouTube Partner Program. Don't forget to include the website of your news organization in the "Company Web Site" field on your application form -- this is critical to having your application approved. If you don't already have a YouTube account, make sure to use an email address with the same domain as your website (e.g. johndoe@newswebsite.com) when registering.

Once your application has been reviewed, you will receive an email confirming whether you are included in the YouTube Partner Program. If you are included, you will have the option to participate in revenue sharing and customize your branded channel.

The Google News team will do a separate review and follow-up about including your videos in Google News.

For more details on becoming a YouTube partner, please visit our Partner Benefits page. For a more in-depth explanation of submitting your video content for inclusion on Google News, take a look at our Help Center article: Submitting video and other multimedia content. Please submit any questions through our Help Center.

Posted by Olivia Ma, YouTube News Manager

The New York Times is doing really cool stuff with video

The New York Times is doing really cool stuff with video

Just a quick hat-tip to the New York Times, which is really getting into a groove with its YouTube channel. Three highlights of late:

1) Nick Kristof launched his "Win a Trip" with Nick contest, which invited students to apply to accompany him on his next reporting trip and used YouTube as a submission platform. The lucky winner was announced a few weeks ago.

2) The Times started a series called "The New Hard Times," which is focused on collecting memories and advice from Americans who lived through the Great Depression. They are inviting the community to submit videos of themselves or friends or family sharing their experiences from the Depression and offering insight for how to deal with today's difficult economic climate.

Here's a video from June Reifstroffer Hammer, who was interviewed by her 13-year-old grandson, Samuel. Her account gets pretty emotional about 40 seconds in.



3) And finally, the Times did a "behind-the-scenes" look at President Obama's prime-time press conference from earlier this week. They gave those of us not able to attend the event in person a little taste of what it's like before the live, televised portion begins -- providing access where previously there's been none.




Definitely worth subscribing and keeping an eye on what these savvy video journalists and their editors are up to next...