Is this what we've been waiting for? ..Or is she just a nut?

Just today I was pointed to an alternative news channel in town.
The Natalie Pollock News Channel. 


Started in what appears to be June 2008, Natalie Pollock has taken journalism into her own hands on the YouTube channel NiftyNataliePollock. She's covered a variety of local events from the Winnipeg Gay Pride Festival to this year's provincial election. 


And by covered, I mean she has gone out with a shaky video camera, acting as the videographer, and asking inane questions or pretending to be the interview subjects. 


This news channel could resemble a satirical Onion-esque tv channel. But for the most part it lacks the sophistication and intelligence of actually reporting news or having real interviewees. Pollock chooses "stories" that have more comedic content than actual news worthiness. For example, her (or her husband's) interview with Joe Chan, Liberal Canadidate for the Logan area.

Other instances of Pollock's "reporting" include a camera focussed on a Jon Gerrard picture online, adopting a fake voice and pretending to be Jon Gerrard, Liberal leader of Manitoba, begging for votes.

Is this the future of journalism? No. To play devil's advocate, I suppose, she does accompany all of her videos with a brief summary of information regarding the clip. For example, in the following clip, Pollock describes the older man in blue, St. Vital Liberal candidate Harry Wolbert, who claimed last week that Jon Gerrard was not equppied to be Liberal leader anymore. However, there is absolutely no news content in the accompanying video or credibility behind a woman who considers this a news story:

Though it doesn't appear that Pollock has collected much of a following in the past three years. Her video with Joe Chan has only accumulated 363 views even in the time of an election.
But the big question I have is: Is this a joke? Are these "news stories" just for amusement for Pollock and her husband? Or is this just the satirical news source that Winnipeg has been waiting for since the creation of (Our) Beaver magazine?

And when Natalie isn't reporting her breaking news, she takes part in another YouTube channel of hers called GossipShow, where she takes the on-cam spotlight.