YouTube has launched a new service to help people who want to offer their videos to news organizations. YouTube Direct will provide an easy way for news organizations to collect and broadcast clips that are submitted by the public. The videos would be available on a YouTube page that each media outlet could customize. YouTube will host the video, saving cash-strapped newsrooms the expense of building the infrastructure to store video.

The Chronicle is using the service to solicit video of street performers while the Washington Web site Politico is asking its readers to submit videos responding to a question of the day.