With the launch of YouTube Direct, YouTube is positioning itself as a key intermediary between the media and the public.

YouTube Direct is described as “a new tool that allows media organizations to request, review and rebroadcast YouTube clips directly from YouTube users.”

Or as Mashable put it, “YouTube is letting anyone launch their own iReport-type site.”

Several news organisations are already using the service: ABC News, the Huffington Post, NPR, Politico, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Washington Post.

It clearly provides a way for media organisations to collect, filter and publish user-created content, without having to invest in costly systems to process the material.

What is also interesting is that it closely ties YouTube into the newsgathering operations of media outlets.

And there is, of course, a video on YouTube, explaining the new service

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgGxi3hiOnY]