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Media Issues Top Ten, Part 2

© Deborah Lagarde

For publication Friday, December 24, 1999, © 1999 by Deborah Lagarde. Comments? E-mail "mailto:dlagarde@suite101.com"

Last week I gave five of my top ten "greatest of the century" (for what it's worth!) web sites. My number one "slowest, best alternative media" site, "http://www.worldnetdaily.com" is no longer the slowest--they've upgraded their servers in the meantime--so now they are "just" the best. By the way, its editor, Joe Farah, has written an excellent article (today, Wednesday, Dec. 22, 1999) entitled "Forced March to Bethlehem," the best "Christmas" article I've seen. It's about how Joseph and nine-month-pregnant Mary had to struggle to get a place for her to birth Jesus, the Christian Messiah (and mine, too, by the way) because Joseph couldn't get a room at an inn. It wasn't because Joseph was poverty stricken. It was because for the first time in history, the ruling government--Rome--required all subjects to be numbered and taxed. Therefore Joseph, a member of the House of David--the Messianic bloodline--had to drag his about-to-give-birth Mary 70 miles by donkey to Bethlehem, in the province of Judea, from Nazareth, in the province of Galilee.

Even back then, it seems, the equivalent to today's IRS was merciless.

In any case, here's the rest of my top ten:

6.Best Search Engine: That is to say, the easiest to use search engine, is at Infoseek, at "http://www.infoseek.com" By the same token, I never can get any satisfaction from AltaVista.

7.Best Shopping site: At "http://www.outpost.com" you can buy almost anything, and, for the holidays, you get the two nicest words any shopping place can offer: FREE SHIPPING!!! (I know this has nothing to do with 'media issues' but even media issues CEs have to do Christmas shopping.)

8.Best new pop culture news site (if they ever get it up right): PopSmack.com, a brand new pop culture mag, that hits the powers that be in pop culture upside the head. It is at "http://www.popsmack.com" for those who are tired of all the hype to the stars. This one tells the hidden truth behind the moves and shakes--if they ever get it up right! And look for my "Dear Bono" article while you are there (at least I've been told they'd run it.)

9.Best media issues mag with its eye on the publishers, from the publisher's point of view: In a world where it is almost impossible to be unbiased, Brill's Content tries to cover the publisher's side of the story while still being pro-consumer. On the web it is at "http://www.brillscontent.com". Their January 2000 issue about "media synergy" (the forming of tighter and bigger media conglomerates) is a must read.