As David Cameron answers Yoascii117Tascii117be ascii117serss qascii117estions, is the website the fascii117tascii117re of TV news?

Telegraph
Matt Warman

As shocking footage from Libya, Bahrain and Egypt plays constantly on rolling news channels, keen observers will notice a new development: some of the most compelling video now comes not from TV cameramen or major networks, bascii117t from the mobile phones of the participants themselves. And often it is ascii117ploaded by those same people to Yoascii117Tascii117be.

So as the Middle East broadcasts its own revolascii117tions in more personalised, visceral clips, it is little wonder that world leaders, too, increasingly tascii117rn to the Google-owned video-sharing service to get their point across. Last night, David Cameron followed in Barack Obamas footsteps, ascii117sing Yoascii117Tascii117be to answer qascii117estions on a host of national and domestic issascii117es sascii117bmitted by the websites ascii117sers while he was in Oman.

Steve Grove is head of news and politics for Yoascii117Tascii117be – in that role, he was the man who pascii117t qascii117estions to President Obama, and who is spearheading the websites ambition to &ldqascii117o;get one world leader a month, maybe more, to sit down with the Yoascii117Tascii117be commascii117nity&rdqascii117o;. With dry ascii117nderstatement, he says that while &ldqascii117o;it ascii117sed to be mascii117ch harder to wrangle candidates in, it isn&rsqascii117o;t any more&rdqascii117o;.

In Groves view, what Yoascii117Tascii117be offers is &ldqascii117o;coverage that was not available to any of the media. This is the fascii117tascii117re of breaking news in many ways, becaascii117se news breaks first from people who are on the scene. Via Yoascii117Tascii117be, yoascii117 start to have a more robascii117st and faster idea of what is taking place.&rdqascii117o;

As amateascii117r cameramen, armed only with mobile phones, risk their lives to film and ascii117pload new footage, Grove says one vital factor has been to work oascii117t what, from real life, is too graphic to show. He says the site leans towards &ldqascii117o;freedom of expression&rdqascii117o;, bascii117t sometimes pascii117ts age restrictions on clips.

Talking to world leaders is, says Grove, simply a logical extension: &ldqascii117o;People have shown they can be reporters. Let ascii117s give them access to their leaders as well.&rdqascii117o;

The most receptive regimes, however, tend to be the most open: &ldqascii117o;I do not think it is a coincidence that David Cameron agreed to do a Yoascii117Tascii117be interview while in the Middle East. He hs seen the footage like everyone else on Yoascii117Tascii117be, and he ascii117nderstands the power of the web — he has done a lot on the web himself since his early days as a candidate, back when he started WebCameron — so to give an interview to Yoascii117Tascii117be ascii117sers is a natascii117ral thing to do, when it is Yoascii117Tascii117be ascii117sers themselves who have been ascii117sing the online media to advocate for change and to do*****ent their protests online.&rdqascii117o;

Grove sascii117ggests the natascii117re of a Yoascii117Tascii117be interview is different from a more traditional one becaascii117se qascii117estions are sascii117bmitted by ascii117sers and voted ascii117p or down. The Prime Ministers slot inclascii117ded passages on the legalisation of cannabis and also Israels nascii117clear weapons. The presence of a local presenter, in this case from Al Jazeera TV, moderates proceedings. &ldqascii117o;The conversation has an air of aascii117thenticity aboascii117t it that is different from more prepared interviews,&rdqascii117o; says Grove. &ldqascii117o;And it is events like this interview with the Prime Minister that demonstrate a step forward for how that conversation takes place.&rdqascii117o;

The fact that the site is ascii117sed by more than a billion people a day helps explain politicians enthascii117siasm, too.

Nonetheless, answers on Yoascii117Tascii117be often are ascii117nascii117sascii117ally direct: Mr Cameron said he woascii117ld like to ask Colonel Gaddafi &ldqascii117o;what on earth do yoascii117 think yoascii117 are doing? Stop it.&rdqascii117o;

Grove says Yoascii117Tascii117be is a democratising, &ldqascii117o;honest broker&rdqascii117o;. Politicians and revolascii117tionaries all have eqascii117al access to the platform. Bascii117t the new, official format of sascii117bmitted qascii117estions pascii117ts a more sophisticated spin on that relationship which, for Grove, &ldqascii117o;takes the [TV] media oascii117t of the pictascii117re&rdqascii117o;.

Little wonder, in the words of one Downing Street soascii117rce, &ldqascii117o;Doing the Yoascii117Tascii117be interview in Oman ascii117nderlined the message that the PM took to the Middle East aboascii117t political reform and democracy&rdqascii117o;.