citizentube

You Choose '08: Monday Hotlist

2008-07-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

McCain's "Purpose," Gravel's "Declaration," and a U.S. veterans group's challenge - here's this week's Monday Hotlist.

John McCain TV Ad: Purpose (johnmccaindotcom)

Declaration of Independence 2008 (gravel2008)

Energy Independence Day (AmericanSolutions)

Finish the Job (VetsForFreedomVideo)

Introducing whYDA.org. Young Americans Voting for Democrats (youngdems)

July 4 Special: The Best of Campaign 2008

2008-07-04T15:00:00.000-07:00

Exactly four months from today, Americans will vote to elect the next President of the United States. To honor Independence Day, PoliticsTV posted their July 4 Special: 2008's Best Campaign Web Videos So Far -- a sequel to 2008: A Web Video Odyssey, which they released in May 2007.

The producers of PoliticsTV have looked back at the last year in political web video and put together the highlight reel of all highlight reels. Here are the most memorable moments in YouTube politics... in less than seven minutes.

GOP Convention: "These are your American Neighbors"

2008-07-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

The GOP team in St. Paul that is furiously preparing for the 2008 Republican National Convention has selected the five finalists for its "American Neighbor" YouTube Contest. The contest called upon You Tube users to submit videos profiling everyday citizens who represent the best of the American spirit – citizens who put service to others before themselves. Starting today, you can vote for your favorite video on the GOP Convention's YouTube channel.

Four of the five videos profile army veterans and current members of the U.S. Armed Forces. We meet people such as Judson Hemperley, who served as a medic during World War II, and David Hale, a physician who's already served two tours in Iraq.

We meet Terry Sladic, who can boast to being the oldest serving captain in the U.S. Marine Corps – and to not losing a single member of the 177 marines and 8 sailors who were under his command.

We meet Chase Lucas, an 8-year old aspiring aviator who pays a heartfelt tribute to the men and women of the U.S. military.

And finally, we meet Jason Gilde, a young premed student dedicated to educating poverty-stricken children in Kibera and Kenya. His work on the Africa Dream Project is the stuff of inspiration.

Check back here on July 14th to find out who'll take home the grand prize: a trip to the GOP Convention in September.

CitizenTube Friday Five

2008-07-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

A respected general causes a media frenzy, a noted journalist undergoes waterboarding, McCain vogues with Madonna, and a top-secret phone conversation gets "leaked." Here's this week's Friday Five.

Barack Obama and Bill Clinton Phone Call Leaked (barelypolitical)

Barack and Bill bury the hatchet...with a little help from Barely Political.

TPMtv: Wesley Clark Hyperventorama (Veracifier)

Mashup of media reactions to Clark's recent statements about John McCain.

Vietnam Smiles... (mccainblogette)

Meghan and Cindy McCain travel to Vietnam in support of Operation Smile.

Watch Christopher Hitchens Get Waterboarded (VanityFairMagazine)

Noted journalist subjects himself to controversial interrogation technique.

Project Make McCain Exciting: Gray Ambition (DarrylStarberry)

Through the magic of green screen, John McCain strikes a pose with Madonna.

Unions Wield YouTube for Politics

2008-07-03T11:39:00.000-07:00

With the U.S. economy in its current fragile state, union organizations are increasingly turning to the Internet to spread their message. Recognized as having tremendous sway over their members, unions all over the country have been keeping a close eye on this year’s presidential race, and are using every means available to ensure that their concerns are addressed—from protesting and petitioning…to posting videos on YouTube.

One such example is TakeBackOhio's YouTube channel, which focuses on the issues that are important to working class families in that state: solid jobs, decent wages, affordable health care, and the right to organize. In their videos, we hear from average workers, local politicians, and union leaders, like this one featuring Timothy Litman, Business Manager for IRON 550.

Another channel in this vein is palabor08, which focuses on issues specific to union workers in Pennsylvania. In this video, BCTGM Local 464 member Peter Wingerter talks about the impact of policies such as NAFTA – and reserves some harsh words for Senator John McCain.

Finally, user robertgalinsky has started a project called Blue Collar For Obama, an interview series featuring union and blue collar workers in New York. Watch this interview with Michael, a former Hillary Clinton supporter, who explains why he’s now supporting the Illinois Senator.

PBS uses YouTube to change TV

2008-07-03T09:19:00.000-07:00

You may not think of public broadcast television at the cutting edge of innovation, but PBS is proving otherwise. A trio of traditional media organizations, including PBS, The New Republic, and the National Review, are teaming up with social news site Reddit to create an experimental new interactive news program called YourWeek that allows people to actively participate in determining what news stories get reported.

Using Reddit, which allows users to vote stories up and down and have conversations around particular items, YourWeek producers, "search out the smartest conversation and stories from your world" and use the wisdom of crowds to determine what stories they should cover.

Basically, it's "the traditional weekly "story meeting" with 10,000 people (or more) instead of just the small editorial staff," said Erik Martin, the online producer for YourWeek, who took the time to explain the start-up's strategy to Citizentube.

"We'll post questions to the Reddit community, ask them for the best angles on stories, or just ask them which headlines from the front page they'd like to see explored on the show."

The YourWeek team then posts drafts of each of the video story segments online (here on YouTube) and solicits feedback from the community, which they then incorporate into the final version of the episode. After the show is completed, the discussion continues back on the web and users can start suggesting content for the next episode.

"Ideally," Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, told us, "it's 24-7 news program that marries the quality of PBS journalism with the vast resources and timeliness of the Internet."

YourWeek is still in beta, so it's hard to say if this is the future of television just yet -- but our curiosity is highly piqued. Stay tuned!

Hillary Scrubs Website of Anti-Obama Ads

2008-07-02T14:23:00.000-07:00

The Washington Times just reported that Hillary Clinton has scrubbed her website and YouTube channel of all negative ads against Barack Obama. That's right—gone is the infamous "Children" ad, gone is the ad featuring Pennsylvania voters expressing their outrage over Obama's "bitter" comment, gone are all traces of her "kitchen sink" approach that sought to portray the Illinois senator in an unflattering flight. This move is Clinton's latest effort to restore party unity and shore up support for Obama after their long primary battle. However, it remains unclear whether erasing these videos will erase the animosity that many of Clinton's 18 million supporters continue to feel. To read more, check out The Washington Times article.

Message to Senator Edwards: you may want to follow suit...

Tag, You’re It! – Register Someone to Vote

2008-07-01T13:01:00.000-07:00

In one of the more original uses of YouTube during this election season, user JoeFelice has launched what he calls the Voter Vlog Project. The concept: register someone to vote, then make a video response "tagging" other YouTube users to do the same. Joe's mission is to inspire the YouTube community to register as many new voters as possible before the general election in November. Check out Joe's call-out video:

Several YouTube users have already responded to Joe's voter vlog challenge, including EmergencyCheese (aka Politico's James Kotecki):

...and TheResident:

MayorTV Seeks to Reframe Political Debate

2008-07-01T07:45:00.000-07:00

The Nation and the Drum Major Institute have joined forces to launch MayorTV, a new web series featuring interviews with mayors from all across the country. MayorTV’s mission is to generate a conversation about urban issues in this year’s presidential campaign — issues that all too often get lost in the midst of a general election where other concerns take center stage.

“MayorTV came about from the relatively simple realization that urban issues just haven’t been talked about at a national level for quite a few years now,” Harry Moroz from the Drum Major Institute told CitizenTube. “And, when we stopped to think about it, common political rhetoric had come to portray urban issues as synonymous with poverty, minorities, and crime.”

Hoping to change that perception, and influence future public policy, MayorTV has put together an impressive roster of interviewees, including Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon, and most recently (see below) Richmond Mayor and former Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder.

Moroz continues: “Our goal is to press Senator Obama to keep and Senator McCain to start talking about cities (and to do so in public, of course). At the same time, our goal is to highlight the innovative policymaking that is occurring at the city and local level as examples of why the presidential candidates should view cities as solutions.”

You Choose '08: Monday Hotlist

2008-06-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

McCain releases a new ad, the Red State Update guys discuss the recent Obama-Clinton alliance, and a mother responds to Move.Org. Just some of the highlights from this week's Monday Hotlist.

Seal (JohnMcCaindotcom)

Red State Update: Hillary Loves Obama (travisandjonathan)

Ania Egland responds to MoveOn.org ad attacking Sen. McCain (smile4ania)

The McCain Residences: A Google Earth Tour (jedreport)

The Onion: Pretend You Give A Shit About The Election (TheOnion)

Obama Takes Page From McCain Playbook

2008-06-27T14:53:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama’s YouTube channel just posted a video today featuring campaign manager David Plouffe discussing their team's campaign strategy for the general election. Aided with PowerPoint slides and a handful of statistics, Plouffe gives a brief summary of where the campaign stands, the challenges ahead, and what supporters can do to help.

The video comes a few weeks after John McCain’s campaign manager Rick Davis released a video (see below) outlining their team’s general election strategy. And indeed, the two videos share many similarities. Both aim to give voters an in-depth, by-the-numbers look at each candidate’s strategy for success; both delve into topics such as voter demographics, party enthusiasm, battleground states, and the importance of fundraising; and both encourage voters not only to support their campaigns from afar, but to get involved.

Of course, one can’t help but notice that whereas the Obama video goes back-and-forth between PowerPoint slides and Plouffe talking directly to the camera, the McCain video is made up exclusively of graphs and statistics—nowhere in the video do we see Davis’ face. (And clocking in at over 14 minutes, the McCain video is twice as long.)

Posting your campaign strategy to YouTube... we really do live in more transparent times.

CitizenTube Friday Five

2008-06-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

Cowboys, family values, the cost of war, and James Bond. Here’s this week’s Friday Five.

Dr. No (johnmccaindotcom)

Anti-Obama ad inspired by the famous James Bond film.

Tony Perkins Asks Barack Obama: When Does Life Begin? (FRCAction)

FRCAction President and noted conservative Tony Perkins asks Barack Obama: When Does Life Begin?

Costs Of War (CostsofWar)

Short video outlining the cost of the Iraq War in a single minute.

Lieberman Must Go! (bravenewfilms)

Video urging Senate Democrats to strip Joe Lieberman of his leadership role in Congress.

Big John (TexansForJohnCornyn)

Campaign ad/music video from Texas senator John Cornyn.

A Political Conversation, YouTube-Style

2008-06-26T16:10:00.000-07:00

Hundreds, if not thousands, of political conversations are taking place on YouTube everyday, whether in the form of comments or video replies. Today we wanted to spotlight one of them: a passionate video exchange between YouTube users PoliticalOverload and Witzkeyman.

Here’s the background: After Obama announced his decision to decline public financing for his campaign, PoliticalOverload uploaded a video expressing his deep disappointment, and even his uncertainty as to whether he would continue to support Obama. Witzkeyman responded, criticizing PoliticalOverload for joining the anti-Obama bandwagon and holding Obama to too high a standard. What then followed, over the course of two subsequent videos, was a thoughtful debate over the question of practicality versus principle. Is it better to choose the lesser of two evils—or not to choose at all?

The Young Turk’s Cenk Uygur: The CitizenTube Interview

2008-06-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

Smart, irreverent, and often hilarious, The Young Turks is one of the most popular political channels on YouTube. Hosted by Cenk Uygur, the Young Turks is a daily radio/Internet show covering politics, news, and current events. Whether the topic is John McCain, Nancy Pelosi, or Soulja Boy, Uygur and his crew rarely fail to provoke and entertain.

Uygur recently took the time to sit down and answer some questions for Citizentube. He shares with us how the Young Turks came into being, what questions he would ask the presidential candidates, and his favorite YouTube videos (besides his own).

Nader and the 7 Things You Can’t Say

2008-06-25T20:50:00.000-07:00

In a provocative tribute to the late George Carlin, Ralph Nader just released a video on his YouTube channel entitled “7 Things You Can't Say in '08: In Memory of George Carlin.” A reference to the comedy act that made Carlin famous (and notorious), the video enumerates what Nader considers to be the political taboos of this year’s presidential election.

No doubt Carlin would be flattered.

"I Approve This Message" - Unscripting the Political Process on YouTube:

2008-06-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

Citizen journalist collective, the UpTake, launched a new project on Monday called "I Approve This Message," in partnership with The UnConvention, an organization that aims to offer an alternative perspective on politics.

The "I Approve This Message" campaign encourages citizens to create short videos with their own political messages -- for the candidates, for their delegates, for their party. The goal of the project is to empower everyday people by providing a "fun way for citizens to get involved in the dialogue." These video responses will be highlighted on both The UpTake and The Unconvention's YouTube channels, The UnConvention website, and a selection will be screened in person at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

Check out the project's launch video here:

....and the UpTake's initial round of submissions, in which users were invited to share a personal message with the RNC:

Learning from YouTube Masters...

2008-06-24T16:00:00.000-07:00

I just finished spending the last two days at the Personal Democracy Forum's annual conference in New York, "Rebooting the System." In addition to learning from technocrats and politicos buzzing with great ideas and insights, I had the opportunity to moderate a panel entitled, "Mastering the World of Online Video." It featured three YouTube greats - Robert Greenwald of bravenewfilms, Josh Marshall of TPMtv, and Matthew Sheffield of NewsBusted. Each had some great thoughts to relay on how to succeed in the world of online video.

Just for some reference, here is the incline that anyone faces when they decide to start uploading video to YouTube:

Hundreds of millions of videos are viewed on YouTube every day
Hundreds of thousands of new videos are uploaded to YouTube every day
In just one minute, 10 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube

How do you succeed and get your videos to rise to the top of that chaotic stream of content?

Here are some of the ideas that Robert, Josh, and Matthew had:

Be timely. Create content that is relevant to the news cycle. So much traffic is driven by search on YouTube - people search for what is relevant that day. Josh uploads at least a video a day to his channel (and will soon upload more...) and Matthew's Newsbusted comes out with a new episode every three days or so.

Understand the ecosystem. Robert went to great lengths to describe how Brave New Films utilizes both the blogosphere and the mainstream media, and capitalizes on their need for new content to feed their broadcasts. In fact, he premiered a great video at our panel about how Brave New Films conceives of and promotes a piece of video content from start to finish:

Build networks. Email lists matter - Matthew said Newsbusted was a success from the beginning because their massive email distribution network was a great pipeline to distribute their links.

Say something original. Both Josh and Robert stressed this - online video is a great place to say something that isn't being said somewhere else.

The "Rocketboom" strategy. Matthew touched on this... and though he took some flack for it from the audience, it seems to bear true: it does not hurt to have an attractive female starring in your videos.

Listen to feedback. Your community on YouTube can give you great advice on how to tweak your content - keep an eye on those comments and video responses. Matthew said Newsbusted made some tweaks to the show after viewers made recommendations on what they liked and didn't.

Experiment. All three said this was key... Josh in particular has experimented with a wide variety of video styles... you might not know what will work until you try, and YouTube is a medium of abundance, not scarcity. Use that to your advantage.

Many more insights, but these were the highlights...

McCain Slams Obama on Campaign Financing Decision

2008-06-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

John McCain just released a pointed video on his YouTube channel responding to Obama’s recent announcement that he’ll be declining public financing for his general election campaign. Using footage of Obama from speeches and interviews - including his well-known, Deval Patrick-inspired remark, “Don’t tell me words don’t matter” - the video condemns the Illinois Senator for going back on earlier promises to run a publicly financed campaign.

The video marks the first negative ad from the McCain camp since Obama became the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee earlier this month. If anyone needed reminding that the general election campaign is in full swing, this is as good an indication as any.

Newest Political Ad from Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe on YouTube

2008-06-24T10:29:00.000-07:00

Zimbabwean politics have been in extreme turmoil since March, when Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's undisputed leader for nearly twenty years, garnered less votes in the national presidential election than opposition party leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Mugabe refused to concede the presidency, and violence broke out across the country as his loyalists targeted members of Tsvangiari's party, the Movement for Democratic Change, in an effort to maintain power.

Both parties agreed to a run-off election this Friday June 27, but Tsvangirai unexpectedly withdrew last week, in what some believe was a plea for international assistance and a move to protect his supporters who continue to be the victims of brutal violence and intimidation.

Les Observateurs, a citizen-media news service edited by journalists at France 24, posted Mugabe's latest television advertisement on their YouTube channel. Mugabe's commercial flashes images of President Bush, former and current British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and then a picture of Tsvangirai accompanied by the text: "Is this the president you want?" By all accounts, the chances that a fair election would have occurred on Friday had the MDC not pulled out were close to zero -- it was clear that Mugabe had no plans to heed the true outcome of a democratic process.

Find out more about the Movement for Democratic Change and the Zimbabwe Elections by checking out the MDC leader Arthur Mutambara's YouTube Channel.

This anonymous user in Zimbabwe, TEACHICKEN, has created a few videos explaining the situation from his perspective -- which is worth watching.

Kucinich's "Impeach Bush" Petition Hits YouTube

2008-06-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

Months after ending his bid for the White House, Congressman Dennis Kucinich is back in the political (and YouTube) spotlight. Kucinich just released the video below asking Americans to sign his petition calling for President Bush’s impeachment.

Kucinich is one of the few elected officials who have actively called for impeachment proceedings against the president, in contrast to most senate and congressional leaders, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who despite their criticism of the Bush administration have maintained that impeachment is off the table

Whether Kucinich’s petition will lead to impeachment proceedings remains doubtful, especially in an election season and the last year of Bush’s term. But if there’s one thing we’ve come to learn about Kucinich, he doesn’t mind bucking the odds.

You Choose '08: Monday Hotlist

2008-06-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

What do campaign finance, Newt Gingrich, and action figures have in common? They all make an appearance in this week's Monday Hotlist.

1,000,000 Americans Join 'Drill Here, Drill Now' Movement (AmericanSolutions)

236.com: Response to Obama's Fundraising Video (twentythreesix)

The Glass House of McCain [trailer] (jedreport)

Barack Obama Declines Public Financing (PoliticalOverload)

STUPID MEDIA (britethorn)

Thinking big? Check out BigThink

2008-06-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

Recently we got the chance to sit down with Victoria Brown, who founded Bigthink.com - a site whose goal is to move the public dialogue beyond "talking heads and talking points," and give it back to people. Their YouTube channel is a great collection of interviews with experts on a variety of topics, and their website allows anyone to submit and rank big ideas.

Here's our interview with Victoria:

CitizenTube Friday Five

2008-06-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

The AP goes after bloggers, TPM Media pays tribute to Tim Russert, and footage of Obama Girl’s predecessor resurfaces. Here’s this week’s Friday Five.

Original Obama Girl: Reagan Girl (Iamzumwalt)

Once upon a time in the '80s, there was a girl who had a crush on Regan.

TPMtv: Tim Russert, 1950-2008 (Veracifier)

TPM Media’s mash-up tribute to the late Tim Russert.

He Said It First - Censored Version (Election08)

Comedy sketch based on an alleged incident involving John McCain.

Harvard's Advice to Bloggers on AP Copyright Fiasco (digitaljournal)

A look at the ensuing battle between the Associated Press and news bloggers.

Tour Iowa City flooding (DMRegister)

A moving virtual tour of the devastating flooding in Iowa City, Iowa.

McCain Cribs Exclusive: We like to roll in style

2008-06-19T10:11:00.000-07:00

Whoever said John McCain wasn't in touch with young folks clearly hasn't seen the latest video from his campaign, "McCain Cribs Exclusive: The Straight-Talk Express." A play off of the wildly popular television show MTV Cribs, which offers guided journeys through the sprawling mansions of the rich and famous, this video tour of McCain's campaign bus gives voters a behind-the-scenes look at the Senator's pimped-out ride. Davis White, McCain's Director of Advance, explains the bus's role in the campaign, while pointing out the vehicle's flyest amenities -- including the 36" inch flat screen TV and 22" inch rims.

It's clear that Justin Germany, the McCain team's video guru, did his research when putting this one together. From the bass-heavy hip-hop beats used in the intro title sequence to the camera angles and video editing techniques, the "McCain Cribs Exclusive" has the same look-and-feel of the real MTV cribs episodes that feature the bed and baths of stars like 50 cent and Snoop Dogg.

"When we roll into town," White explains in the video, "we like to roll in style."

Obama announces public financing opt-out on YouTube

2008-06-19T07:32:00.000-07:00

Senator Obama hopped on to YouTube this morning to announce that he'll be forgoing public funding for the general election. By opting out of the $84 million that the pubic financing system would allot his campaign, Team Obama is relying on their extensive grassroots online fundraising efforts - which have pulled in donations from 1.5 million Americans - to fuel their efforts. "I wanted all of you, the people who've built this movement from the bottom up, to hear it first," Obama said to voters on YouTube this morning.

Obama's announcement is both historic and controversial - no other candidate has declined public funding since the current system was created in 1976 in the wake of the Watergate scandal. His campaign's argument is that the current system is broken - by allowing 527 money into the system, millions of dollars of unregulated funds influence the campaign, they claim. In his video, Obama points out that by relying on private funding from supporters, he's running a campaign "truly funded by the American people." According to the campaign, 90% of their donations have been from voters giving $100 or less.

Some of that money was raised on YouTube - the Obama campaign has activated the Google Checkout "Contribute" button that we make available to all federal campaign channels and watch pages.