YouTube has been encouraging aspiring video journalists to post videos to Project Report, a YouTube channel which is part of the expanding role of media and journalism on the mega video sharing site. 

The channel is also a revenue generated for YouTube with marquis sponsorships from Sony VAIO and Intel.

With the assistance of the Pulitzer Center, YouTube has been running its first ever competition for amateur video journalists.  The public is invited to vote in the competition.  Voting ends tomorrow (1/9) and the awards will be announced on Sunday evening (1/11) at an event at American University in Washington, D.C.

Here's the assignment for the 5 minute segments:

"Produce a piece that empowers an underrepresented community to tell its
own story to the world. First, choose a group of people that are rarely
covered by the traditional media. Then let them use the camera to
document their own lives, and to tell their own story. It's up to each
individual reporter to collect the footage captured by the members of
this group, and to weave that material into your own reporting to
create a compelling and unique story."

On Monday, the winners and top news execs will be at YouTube event in D.C.  Beet.TV will attend and cover. Stay tuned.  And, vote!

Here's a video just posted of YouTube's Steve Grove and Olivia Ma, YT execs who manage the news and media channels and relationships. 

— Andy Plesser, Executive Producer