"There has been a culture of alternative media for a very long time."

But the thing to remember, there's been this tradition of the alternative press for a long time. In the 60s, of course, you had things like the L.A. Free Press and things like that popping up. It's now just easier to find that information. It's there on the Web and it's much easier. Obviously, distribution of it is what the issue is. It's not so much that this culture is new or that it's been able to grow because of the access to the information.

SCHINDLER: So your contention would be that similar information has been around. It's just more widely available due to the Internet?
METZGER: Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying.

SCHINDLER: Is this a more or less effective medium than previously existing media for people who want to coerce and persuade?
METZGER: I think that it can be, but the reverse is also true. The Web is a marvelous medium for mischief making. I eagerly await the emergence of the Abby Hoffmans of the Internet.

"You can use the Internet to persuade people or coerce them or brainwash them or propagandize them, but the reverse is also true. So the rebels can use it for their means too."

The thing that's interesting to think about, is that something like the Rodney King beating video tape -- which was shown around the world and had such a major impact on American moral society -- you don't need CNN anymore to get that information out. If you have some highly inflammatory, whatever it is, Rodney King was a good example, but the "Flight 800: Was It Friendly Fire?" e-mail that went around is another example of this: Whereas you can propagate this information very quickly; yes, you can use the Internet to persuade people or coerce them or brainwash them or propagandize them, but the reverse is also true. So the rebels can use it for their means too. As long as you've got good graphic designers on the rebel side, I think you can do some serious damage. C O N T I N U E D . . . 2 of 2
SCHINDLER: I've heard you say that you're not a conspiracy theorist, you just play one on television, but why don't you help me understand, what is your stance, vis-à-vis the material on your Website?

"I do often get called a conspiracy theorist. And it's inaccurate."

METZGER: I do often get called a conspiracy theorist. And it's inaccurate because I think that if you look at the site broadly, it's trying to understand millennial madness and sort of cultural trends.

I think that what you see, the underbelly of what's on the Internet -- not the Hotwireds and the CNN.coms -- but the Apocalypse Now Website, for instance, which is done by a fellow out in Los Angeles who has basically gone through and combed the newspapers and found some very alarming information. And he has made a case; a very strong, very cogent case that there is some serious weirdness going on that we, as a species, had better sort of get our act together, or at least look at what's going on. What road we're going down. I mean, there is a large amount of counter-culture out there and I think that I'm sort of a counter-culture tour guide, if you will.

SCHINDLER: Describe your site a little for us.
METZGER: This information is sort of a portal to the underground culture on the Net. I go through and I comb through things and I try to get the best 20 to 30 URLs that I think get an alternative point across.

Obviously, if you look at the site, I've got a fairly leftist bent but I don't really have that much of a lefty ax to grind because I'm not doing the saying. I'm pointing out Websites of other people, and saying, "This is what this person says." So I link to extremely right-wing sites and I link to extremely left-wing sites and everything in the middle.

"The Internet gives people an opportunity to look at raw information ... that has not been processed or framed by a Dan Rather or a Cokie Roberts."

I think that it's a good idea to hear what everybody has to say and the truth is not necessarily what the mainstream media is telling you, nor is it what some far-out conspiracy-type theory guy is necessarily telling you, it's somewhere in the middle.

I think that what is interesting about the Internet is that it gives people an opportunity to look at raw information. Information that has not been, in any way, processed or framed by a Dan Rather or a Cokie Roberts. It's raw information that is there and you can make up your own mind as to the quality of that information and you can recognize the truth when you see it.

SCHINDLER: Do you have a staff that helps you perform this function?
METZGER: Right now, we're sort of building a business, so we're trying to keep our costs low. There are some contributors to the site, but right now, I do most of the writing. Also, Brian Pang, who is the technical wizard of the site, he does a fair amount of the research itself, too. And it's funny because I've noticed our writing styles have melded lately, and it's difficult to tell where my writing ends and his picks up.