More Americans Get Their News From YouTube -- and There's No Going Back

More Americans Get Their News From YouTube -- and There's No Going Back

Source: The Hollywood Reporter-By Shirley Halperin December 19, 2024 1:18pm

It was around Labor Day when I officially swore off network news. Election fatigue played a role in disconnecting, to be sure, but I’d also found an alternative: YouTube pundits who spend hours live on their channels dissecting the top water-cooler stories of the day and exploring every possible angle. They have names like Akademiks and Kempire, who specialize in hip-hop and pop culture; Emily D. Baker and the Florida Law Man, who break down legal headlines and filings; and titles like Popcorned Planet, Legal AF, The Art of Dialogue and, my personal favorite, Tisa Tells.

As it turns out, I’m not the only one who has made the switch from broadcast and cable news to YouTube — a recent Pew Research Center study found that 54 percent of U.S. adults now get at least some of their information from YouTube newscasters, 25 percent of them on a regular basis (especially, curiously, women, who make up 57 percent of the YouTube news audience).

If you happen to be on the other side of those percentages and haven’t yet watched one of these “shows,” they have nothing like the slickly produced anchor chair- and roundtable-filled sets of CNN, MSNBC or Fox. Most hosts are operating with little more than their built-in computer camera and a ring light. There is no producer to speak of, and certainly not a teleprompter. Much of the time, these MCs are providing analysis in real time, sourcing their information from across social media and the internet and relying on their audience to fill in the blanks.

...Of course, there’s no department of standards and practices for these broadcasters — or, for that matter, a long-standing tradition of journalistic ethics. YouTube does have strict community guidelines, although seasoned hosts know how to evade algorithmic censors (which is why they often speak in what seems like code, referring to, say, “PDF files” instead of using a red-flag word like “pedophiles”). As for vetting — you know, whether or not the news they’re putting out in the world is true — Tisa, for one, says her sources are as good as they come, and she attempts to independently verify each claim with five different methods, including public filings.

Read more: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/americans-news-youtube-pundits-1236087369/