YouTube offers much more than stunts, songs and silliness. A lot of news also is reported or repeated there every day. To help users find breaking news videos, YouTube is working with the University of California-Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism to develop a News Feed feature on its CitizenTube.com site. Three journalism students and graduates from Berkeley are working at YouTube on the project this summer, the company announced last week.

As part of the new focus, YouTube will work with media organizations to expand their presence online and also will feature videos from citizen journalists. This development is another reminder that anyone with a camera is a potential reporter, as Congressman Bob Etheridge, D-N.C., learned the hard way recently when he grabbed a student who approached him on a sidewalk to ask about his support for the Obama administration. He later apologized for the widely viewed incident.

The Gulf of Mexico oil leak provides other examples of citizen involvement in news reports. Thousands of Americans this month submitted ideas on YouTube about how to clean up the spill, several of which were aired during the PBS NewsHour. And 15 minutes after a televised presidential address about the situation last week, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs responded to citizen questions submitted at youtube.com/whitehouse. (See invitation video below.)

YouTube executive says: "This summer you'll see us increasing our [news] focus significantly. . . . Our goal with this news feed is to learn more about the news ecosystem on YouTube -- and who better to teach us than people like you." -- Steve Grove, head of news and politics

Columnist says: "In many cases, newspaper and TV journalism has been replaced by multiplayer analysis of online video." -- Virginia Heffernan, New York Times

Media adviser says: "Newspapers are finding new ways to distribute their content online, creating a better user experience in the process." -- Kevin Goldberg, attorney at telecommunications law firm in Washington, D.C.