The Associated Press Is Loading 550,000 Archival News Clips onto YouTube
Here's the new best way to steal company time.
It’s bad form for a journalist to write about the awesomeness of another site’s video trove, but in this case it can’t be helped. The Associated Press is unleashing a splendor of historical videos that will rock you to your very core.
The AP will deliver more than 1 million minutes of digitized film footage to YouTube. The goal: to provide high-profile, searchable repositories that let documentary filmmakers, historians and others find news footage, and to promote licensing deals for rights to use the video.
Variety reports the AP is partnering with with newsreel archive provider British Moveietone to curate the largest archival news on YouTube with more than 550,000 clips dating back to 1895. This should make it easier for them to sign licensing deals with filmmakers and historians who usually go to YouTube for clips first.
The archive is a seductive vortex of seminal moments, where hours of clicking feels like minutes. Here’s a few picks to keep you here a little while longer.
Nelson Mandela is a Free Man
After 27 years in prison, the future President of South Africa walks free to cheering crowds.
Comet Lander Philae Makes Contact
The European Space Agency gets a reassuring message from space after seven months of silence.
Martin Luther King Jr. Arrested Marching in Selma
Jump to about 5:38 to watch King lay down how far he’ll go for justice.
President George W. Bush Ducks a Shoe
Be honest. Part of you was fine with this.
Muhammed Ali’s 1972 Press Conference
The champ talks trash and eats birthday cake.
