Saddam HusseinThe video shows a man clad in an executioners mask placing a stiff rope around Saddam Hussein's neck. My stomach tightens because I know what will come next. A brief pause and the most deranged megalomaniac of the last 50 years is put to death.
This clip was not shown on any major network newscast. The picture of a lifeless Saddam did not grace the cover of any newspapers. But, thanks to YouTube, the video is available in all its unedited glory for those with the interest and tolerance.
Apparently, I am not the only one who wanted to witness such an event. On the day I viewed the video, it had recorded more than two million views. It created such an outrage in Iraq that the president has ordered an investigation.
This is one of the many interesting voids that has been filled by the YouTube phenomenon. Interlaced between the videos of college students setting themselves on fire and fainting goats, users have access to serious information often deemed too racy for broadcast on the nightly news.
Not all the news content on YouTube is serious. The majority of items found in the news category feature crazy moments caught on air rather than serious reporting.
The threat of these videos to traditional newscasting is almost non-existent. Many larger news stations such as KSHB-41 in Kansas City offer video clips of their news stories for free online.
Placing news stories online is the next logical expansion for broadcast news. On their own website the station has the ability to beef up the story with added online elements, something that is not possible on YouTube.
YouTube does however have a place in the modern media market. There will always be questionable material that doesn't make it onto a newscast, and an amateur with a camera who has already posted it online.
Nice post. You need to add a cutline and credit for the image. See me if you don't know how.