Twitter has gotten a lot of kudos for how it became a communications channel for the Iran election protests especially when traditional news outlets failed, but a recent study from Zogby found that only 4% of Americans would turn to Twitter for news. Is it reliable and how are TV networks like CNN dealing with getting scooped on Twitter? Also, how are networks vetting information from citizens on the ground? For all the answers, watch this week’s New Media Minute hosted by Daisy Whitney.

YouTube wants to be your friend. Well, if youre a media company, that is. The site has been striking deals with programmers like ABC, ESPN, Sony, Lionsgate and MGM and now its also letting many of those programmers use their own video players and sell their own ads on the site. ESPN is next in line to start in July. There are smart business reasons for these twin moves, Daisy Whitney explains. For more on their potential, check out this weeks New Media Minute.

The high-pitched Web star Fred is raking in the bucks, earning a six-figure income from his YouTube videos, a Google-YouTube executive said at the OMMA Video conference. That money is helping push online video as a category to command 4% of all ad revenue. But don’t expect online video to impact the upfront. Here’s why in this week’s New Media Minute by Daisy Whitney.

What do women want? Its an age old question and its getting a lot tougher for TV networks to answer because evidently a lot of women are tuning out the TV, according to Solutions Research Group. In this week’s New Media Minute, Daisy Whitney reports that Only half of women say they usually pay full attention while watching their favorite shows. And thats because about 50 percent of women with laptops said they have them on frequently or more when watching TV. If they arent on the computer chances are theyre on the mobile phone and TV is just a whole lot of Muzak to them.

There’s a battle brewing between YouTube and the site’s stars. Some YouTube celebrities are trying to bypass YouTube and sell ads themselves directly into the video. This episode of the New Media Minute explains why that’s a no-no and why stars like Kevin Nalts, now with Hitviews, are playing nice.

Publishers and authors are stepping up their game when it comes to online video. The young adult genre is taking the lead with new creative experiments in Web video to promote books like Jay Ashers Thirteen Reasons Why, Alyson Noels Evermore and Harper Teens The Luxe, Daisy Whitney reports in her New Media Minute. For more details on whats working, whats not and whats next when it comes to the intersection of the Internet and novels, check out this episode.

Guess whos getting married? One lucky engaged couple will be tying the knot and theyll say their vows live online this summer. Hollywood production studio Endemol (producers of Deal or No Deal) has teamed up with MySpace to produce the online interactive reality series Married on MySpace kicking off this week on the site. The show, which will put the couple through their paces each before they say I do in August, also has a sponsor on board in Touchstone Pictures. For all the details on why this new Web show matters, check out this weeks New Media Minute. Youll also learn about the video platform company TurnHere and why its doubling its business this year.