A Washington Post article describes a novel new use for the social video site YouTube.

Unlike its usual, often tawdry, mish-mash of spoofs, karaoke and Daily Show highlights, a video recently released by Micheal De Kort actually sought to inform the public of possible, serious security flaws.

Mr. De Kort is an engineer that once worked for Lockheed Martin. After several failed attempts to inform the company of problems with Coast Guard patrol boats that they were refurbishing (including flawed camera equipment and possible cold weather failures), he decided to take matters into his own hands and post his warnings on YouTube.

My thought was, ‘What could I do that would be novel enough that it draws attention to itself, and through drawing attention to itself, something gets done?’

It certainly seems that he has achieved at least some of his goals. At the time of this article, over 25,000 people have viewed his video. It also seems that the government is taking notice. Bennie Thompson, the ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security committee, has written a letter to the Coast Guard asking for their response to Mr. De Kort’s allegations.

These ships were being refurbished under the $24 Billion dollar Deepwater program. Mary Elders, A spokesperson for that program, responds to Mr. De Kort’s concerns saying that,

In each case we’ve reviewed them and taken the appropriate level of action. The Coast Guard takes seriously any concerns related to safety and national security.

She also points out that, “Anybody with a webcam and something to say, regardless of whether it’s true or not, can say it on YouTube.”

Only time will make it clear exactly how much weight these allegations hold. However, one thing is for certain, videos such as these are remarkable examples of how citizen journalism can have a vast affect on how we do business.

[Image provided by the Washington Post, this article has been cross-pollinated in my new column on NewsVine. Enjoy!]

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