One of the co-founders of The Huffington Post, Ken Lerer (pictured), is launching a new news startup. Rather than try and compete with his former colleagues at HuffPost, Lerer and his team have their sights set a bit higher: on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News Channel.

AllThingsD’s Peter Kafka reports:

The service, which will launch this summer in advance of the U.S. Presidential elections, will use a mix of live streaming video and taped reports, and a mix of professionally produced segments along with contributions from amateurs.

While BedRocket has landed four YouTube “channel” deals for its programming, the new venture won’t be confined to any particular platform. Lerer and company have been promoting the idea that the service will rely heavily on social media like Facebook and Twitter for distribution.

Lerer’s venture sounds very similar to what his former colleagues are doing at The Huffington Post, with their HPSN streaming network. It also sounds similar to Current TV, both in its original incarnation (submissions from amateurs) and its current version (politics, politics and more politics).

Of course it does not sound as though the new venture will have a significant newsroom, so TV news outlets shouldn’t get too worries yet. Pundits on the other hand…