Google has announced that its video website, YouTube, will soon add over 100 channels of original television programming. The company promises big names in its lineup, including Madonna, Jay-Z, and Ashton Kutcher. According to the Wall Street Journal article, the new television programs will offer over 25 hours of original programming, all available for free to Internet users.
YouTube's expansion into mainstream television begs to question if — and how — the website will change for citizen and independent journalists. Currently, YouTube allows anyone to post videos; those that go viral are featured on YouTube's homepage. This, in turn, exponentially increases the video's exposure. The formula has brought about immense social change in the past.
With YouTube pushing for more professional, mainstream television, will their homepage be infiltrated with sponsored programs, leaving average individuals without the opportunity to be seen and heard? Will YouTube convert to the "mullet strategy" — like the one used by the Huffington Post — where professional videos will be housed on the homepage and amateur videos will be hidden within the site? We won't know for certain until the channels launch next year, but I would bet that YouTube will certainly place priority on its multi-million dollar television deals over its non-profit posters.
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