Yahoo has taken its first steps to compete with mainstream media outlets with the hire of Weblog journalist Kevin Sites, who will be specializing in coverage of war and political conflicts for the Internet firm.
Sites is a multimedia journalist who works as a one-man reporting unit, using digital video and satellite upload technology to put his stories online. Most recently, he was a non-embedded correspondent for CNN, reporting from Northern Iraq.
He also spent six months in Afghanistan for NBC and MSNBC News, covering the Northern and Eastern Alliance forces before and after the fall of the Taliban.
In signing on with Yahoo Inc., Sites will be providing coverage of worldwide hot zones exclusively for the Yahoo Media Group. The company said it chose Sites as a reporter because his use of digital technology fit well with a new, larger effort at Yahoo to broaden its content offerings.
“Kevins approach is very innovative in the field of journalism, and Yahoo is innovative,” said the companys vice president of content, Scott Moore.
Sites will have significant creative control over what he wants to report and how he reports on it, Yahoo said. Rather than go after headline-grabbing stories that would compete with stories from mainstream news outlets, Sites said he intends to bring a more personal approach to reporting on conflict.
“Were going to focus on the human narrative,” Sites said. “I expect that well often be in places where people may not even know theres conflict. Ultimately, we want to create a global snapshot of the world, while putting a human face on whats going on.”