The video-sharing website is asking users to submit a profile of someone in their community that 'the world should know about', Olivia Ma, news manager of YouTube, said in an email message.
Submissions must be a maximum of three minutes long and in English, featuring only original content created by the reporter.
"Technology has fundamentally changed the way we produce, gather, share, and consume news - and thousands of people from every corner of the globe are using YouTube to share important stories with the rest of the world," said Ma.
"The goal of this project is to provide everyday citizens with a platform to tell stories that aren't traditionally covered in the mainstream media."
The competition, which will be open in September, is the 'first assignment' of a new journalism programme launched by the site.
The site has recently created channels for reporters and citizen news.
More details of the contest and the programme will be announced next month, as YouTube's Steve Grove explains in the introductory video below:
Finance reporter - property
