PBS and Planet Forward

The spirit of change is in the air - literally. PBS has partnered with George Washington University Public Affairs Project, Nebraska Educational Telecommunications, Public Agenda and Sunburst Creative Productions and is taking submissions on how people think America’s energy future should be tackled at www.planetforward.org.

Planet Forward will be hosted by Frank Sesno, former CNN Washington Bureau Chief and the director of GW’s Public Affairs Project. On the Planet Forward Web site, Sesno encourages people to submit anything from a “photo to an op-ed to digital animation or even a poem.” It starts March 6th, so happy uploading!

Planet Forward’s audience will probably be a little less broad than your typical YouTube crowd. A panel of experts, scientists, policy-makers, business leaders and citizen journalists will watch and then discuss the best submissions during the show’s live broadcast on April 15, 2009.

His Last Words on YouTube

This gripping video of a Polish hostage in the hands of the Taliban in Afghanistan has been making the rounds on YouTube the past 24 hours... it shows militants engaging in what seems to be a staged conversation with the Polish engineer, Piotr Stanczak, goading him into such statements as, "the Polish government should break relations with Pakistan." The 7 minute clip was given to the Associated Press, and the last moments of the video (which the AP has not released) capture 3 militants beheading their hostage on video.



The AP reports that, "A spokesman for the Taleban in northwestern Pakistan said on Saturday they killed Stanczak because the government missed a deadline to release 26 prisoners.

"Armed men pulled Stanczak from his car on September 28 after killing three Pakistanis travelling with him near the city of Attock in northwestern Pakistan, a lawless region believed to be a possible hiding place for Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders."

Citizens Capture Beijing on Fire

The Mandarin Hotel in downtown Beijing, home to the China Central Television (CCTV) headquarters, burst into flames earlier today. The cause of the fire is suspected to be fireworks set off in celebration of the final day of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

There are already a number of incredible videos of the raging fires captured by people on the ground in Beijing.

Here's a playlist of some of the earliest clips uploaded to YouTube:

Save Yourself a Paper Cut, File Your Taxes Online

As tax season approaches, the Maryland state Comptroller is bringing a little humor to an otherwise somber topic. In this YouTube video, which spoofs a popular Bud Light ad campaign, Maryland residents are encouraged to pay their taxes online instead of in the mail. The crooning voice of the announcer and his back-up singers rhapsodize about just how painful filing paper returns can be. To help "Mr. Frustrated Taxpayer," Comptroller Peter Franchot urges Md. residents to save time and effort by filing online.

Rapping the News

Tired of listening to NPR on your way to work to get the news of the day? Users like MCMrNapkins and BretterDays are making it more digestible by serving up the top news stories with some tight beats.

In MCMrNapkins's video series "Headline Anagram Jamma" he takes it one step further and actually rearranges all of the letters in the week's headlines into new words and phrases.

Check it out:

"Talk To Us" for a chance to be on TV

WNET.org, New York's public television station, has partnered with Worldfocus and GroundReport on a citizen media initiative called "Talk To Us." Now, any citizen from around the world can share their thoughts on the top news stories of the day by submitting a video to the Talk To Us YouTube channel. The best videos will be selected by the producers of Worldfocus and broadcast on television to an audience of hundreds of thousands.

Their first question in the series is: "Our new president has talked a lot about listening to our global neighbors. What's YOUR advice for President Barack Obama."

Users can post their replies as video responses to this call-out video:

Reporting from Kuwait City: Your Congressman

The Daily Show may have given Republican Eric Cantor a hard time over his new YouTube channel earlier this week, but the truth is Cantor is doing some innovative things on the site, for a Congressman. Currently on a trip through the Middle East with fellow representative Kevin McCarthy, Cantor is video-blogging from the road. His staff tells us he brought along a flip cam for the purpose - proving you don't need a fancy video crew to keep constituents updated on your work. Check out his first post from Kuwait City - more to come.

Transcripts Released for US Airways Flight 1549

Today, the FAA released the audio tapes of the conversation between the air traffic controller at LaGuardia airport and the pilot of US Airways Flight 1549, which crash landed into the Hudson River last month. Listen to the transcript here, with visuals provided by the Associated Press.

Drink Dirty Water for Charity

Would you drink a glass of filthy water? That's the question YouTube user ijustine is asking in an effort to raise money for YouTube nonprofit partner charity:water:



Now ijustine is trying to create a viral awareness storm about the need for increased access to safe drinking water in developing countries by asking YouTube users to make videos in which they too hold up a glass of dirty water.

She's succeeding -- in the past two days, 98 people have uploaded response videos.

She'll be mashing up the best response videos and playing them at the first-ever Twestival, a Twitter-organized charity event that will take place in over 185 cities to raise money for charity:water. To find a Twestival near you, you can visit www.twestival.com.

The Funniest Political Video You'll See This Week - and it's NOT on YouTube

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Back in Black - Congress on YouTube

Daily Show Full Episodes
Funny Political Videos

Important Things With Demetri Martin
More Funny Videos

Florida Teens in Video-taped Beating Plead Guilty

Two Florida teenage girls who were caught on video beating up a friend who was "trash-talking" them have now plead guilty and could face up to a year in detention. Though the beating was never posted to YouTube, the victim had planned to - and regardless the case became known as the "YouTube beating case."



Probably the most famous case of personal violence caught on tape in the past few months was the BART shooting in Oakland, in which a citizen captured a police officer shooting a man on a BART platform, seemingly unprovoked. While security cameras caught the same incident, it was the citizen's cell-phone version that caught the most compelling angle and demonstrated that the officer seemed to show a level of shock when he realized he's shot the man.



Here at YouTube we call this 360 degree reporting... events everywhere not only have the chance of being caught on video by someone somehow, but there's also the likelihood that multiple angles of the same event can provide a clearer sense of what happened than ever before.

Change Is Coming to "The Fix"

The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza, an active YouTube user and author of the popular washingtonpost.com politics blog, "The Fix," needs a little help in determining his future. It's a time for new beginnings, Cillizza explains in his latest "FixCam" video post, not only because of the new President and the impending arrival of Cillizza's first child, but also because of a new DAILY incarnation of the FixCam series.

Cillizza used YouTube throughout the campaign season to do a "Week In Preview" video post every Monday. But he's ready to try something different, and he's asking the YouTube community and loyal Fix followers to share ideas about what they would like to see.



Using the Google Moderator tool, you can submit your suggestions for Cillizza for what he should do with his daily video blog post. How do you want this connected political reporter with access to the insiders in Washington to use YouTube?

Submit your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions here: http://moderator.appspot.com/#16/e=16222 and vote on others'. Cillizza will look at the top ranked submissions and then plan his new FixCam show accordingly.

Put in your two cents!