A lone voice, thousands listen

A former Lockheed Martin engineer has taken to YouTube to air charges of corruption in a military contract he apparently worked on. The self-proclaimed whistleblower is Michael De Kort, who says he worked on a $17 billion Coast Guard contract.

Lockheed Martin describes Integrated Coast Guard Systems as a joint project with Northrop Grumman. The contract was awarded in 2002. According to De Kort's 10-minute video on YouTube, there are now boats in service that were equipped under the contract but in violation of the security and safety requirements. Further, De Kort claims he went through all the channels of Lockheed and then the U.S. government. Frustrated, he created his own channel--on You Tube.

The 3-week-old posting has been viewed more than 15,000 times as of this posting. Now it's getting mainstream media coverage, including Washington Post and CNBC. The Post reports that De Kort "is unemployed after being laid off by Lockheed Martin days after he posted the video. Lockheed said that the video did not influence the decision to lay off De Kort and that he had had been notified earlier this year that he would be out of a job."

A representative for the contractors told the Post that De Kort's charges are without merit. But the video has gotten at least one member of Congress to ask questions of the Coast Guard, and it's gotten media attention.

One certainty: This clearly signals a new era for corporate legal and public relations officials. How you gonna keep 'em outta the news once they've seen YouTube?