The BuzzFlash Report

The concept of a Web portal—as a starting point for people to jump into the Internet—pretty much has been discredited by now. Dot-com execs buzzing hard on venture capital or other intoxicants thought that George and Jane Jetson would log on to wewillsellyoucrap.com and buy plenty of swag before connecting to other sites, but they were wrong. However, the concept does work for certain apps. Take Matt Drudge’s site, The Drudge Report, which provides direct links to news and opinion pieces at other sites, most, if not all of them, offering a conservative perspective. BuzzFlash is Drudge’s liberal analogue, and it’s especially handy for any Web surfer who believes that most mainstream news providers these days only present a right-wing—or at least a pro-corporate—viewpoint. Also, the site is handy for finding important news items the mainstream media are reporting, but bury at the bottom of page A20.