YouTube Adds 'Newswire' Hub For Eyewitness Videos

Where there is breaking news, there's probably a person filming it with their smartphone. And that person is probably going to upload the video to YouTube right away for the world to see.

Now it will be easier than ever to discover this raw footage. YouTube, in partnership with the social news agency Storyful, on Thursday launched a new hub where you can find the eyewitness videos everyone is talking about.

The YouTube Newswire features global and regional feeds that surface the most relevant user-generated news videos in different parts of the world. All videos on the site will be verified by Storyful's team of editors, YouTube said. You can hit up the Newswire directly to follow a news story, or subscribe to a daily newsletter to get the latest videos delivered to your inbox.

Like it or not, YouTube has become an important news resource for a lot of people. At this point, users are watching more than 5 million hours of news videos on the Google-owned site every day, YouTube said.

The new eyewitness video hub may be especially helpful for journalists looking to integrate user-generated video into their reports.

"With the Newswire, we hope to provide journalists with an invaluable resource to discover news video around major events, and to highlight eyewitness video that offers new perspectives on important news stories," Olivia Ma, head of strategy and operations at the Google News Lab, wrote in a blog post.

Meanwhile on the news front, Google also this week launched the biggest expansion of its Trends service since 2013. The new Google Trends shows a ranked, real-time listing of trending stories that are popular across Google at the moment, along with featured topics you might be interested in, such as the NBA Finals, Greece and the Euro, and the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

About Our Expert

Angela Moscaritolo

Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

My Experience

I'm PCMag's managing editor for consumer electronics, overseeing an experienced team of analysts covering smart home, home entertainment, wearables, fitness and health tech, and various other product categories. I have been with PCMag for more than 10 years, and in that time have written more than 6,000 articles and reviews for the site. I previously served as an analyst focused on smart home and wearable devices, and before that I was a reporter covering consumer tech news. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade.

Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

The Technology I Use

My little Florida beach bungalow is brimming with smart home tech. I have a smart speaker or display in every room, allowing me to control other connected devices by voice. The Nest Hub on my bedside table lets me set wake-up alarms, control my smart light bulbs, and set the temperature on my smart thermostat. I use the Amazon Echo Show 8 on my kitchen counter to browse recipes, reorder protein powder, check the weather, and watch the news while I do dishes.

Because I suffer from allergies, air purifiers are essential. My favorite model is the Dyson Purifier Cool TP07, which doubles as a fan and continuously sends indoor pollution data to its companion mobile app.

My pitbull Bradley sheds, so a good robot vacuum is a must. I currently use a premium Ecovacs Deebot that can both vacuum and mop, empty its own dustbin, and wash its own mop cloth.

For fitness, I like to mix up my routine with cycling, indoor rowing, running, and strength training in addition to yoga. I take classes on the Tonal 2 smart strength training machine, I row indoors on an Aviron machine, and track my beach runs with an Apple Watch while listening to music on my Apple AirPods Pro. On the weekends, I love riding e-bikes like the rugged, beach-friendly Aventon Aventure for fun and fitness.

My job involves a lot of virtual meetings, so a quality webcam, microphone, and ring light are important. I use the Jabra PanaCast 20 webcam, the Elgato Wave: 3 microphone, and a Yesker tripod ring light.

As for my preferred phone platform, I'm an iPhone person, but I've also extensively used Android for product testing.

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