Junior student starts Web site to bash the two-party system
Online news service opens with 'more bias' than Drudge, sell conservative memorabilia
Casey Cheney
Issue date: 3/12/09 Section: News
Junior Alex Shoker's Web site offers both hard-hitting news and "infant bodysuits" for only $19.99.
Approximately two weeks ago, Shoker started the Svoboda Report, a Web site containing Drudge Report-style posts of news links on the main page. Each link is listed beneath a column: "The Good News" or "The Bad News."
Shoker said he loves irony, which he employed in choosing the name of his site. He said Svoboda is Russian for "freedom." Originally, he wanted to use "liberty," but online translators couldn't agree on a common Russian word.
For those wanting to support www.svobodareport.com, Shoker has a store filled with a wide variety of items, from anti-big government bumper stickers to anti-big government infant bodysuits, the words "But I don't want to pay YOUR mortgage" displayed across the chest.
CafePress, the organization hosting Svoboda's store, provides Shoker with the products he wants at a base price, which Shoker can then mark up as desired. All Shoker has to do is formulate a design and send it along.
The site is intentionally similar to the well-known Drudge Report, an online news aggregation popular for breaking sensational political stories. Shoker said he felt Matt Drudge has been lacking of late.
"I felt [Drudge] needed a little more bias and a little more filtering," he said.
His need to constantly produce drove him to create his own Drudge-like design.
"The whole thing was kind of an impulse purchase," he said. "I regretted it almost immediately afterward."
His regret stemmed from the $50 it cost him to purchase a two-month domain, $50 he didn't have to spare. He said he will use the revenue generated by the store to pay for the cost of the domain. If he doesn't make enough to purchase an extension, he'll simply let the site die.
He said he is unsure whether anyone has purchased anything from his store, "which is really a shame because I kind of want to buy my bumper stickers."
Approximately two weeks ago, Shoker started the Svoboda Report, a Web site containing Drudge Report-style posts of news links on the main page. Each link is listed beneath a column: "The Good News" or "The Bad News."
Shoker said he loves irony, which he employed in choosing the name of his site. He said Svoboda is Russian for "freedom." Originally, he wanted to use "liberty," but online translators couldn't agree on a common Russian word.
For those wanting to support www.svobodareport.com, Shoker has a store filled with a wide variety of items, from anti-big government bumper stickers to anti-big government infant bodysuits, the words "But I don't want to pay YOUR mortgage" displayed across the chest.
CafePress, the organization hosting Svoboda's store, provides Shoker with the products he wants at a base price, which Shoker can then mark up as desired. All Shoker has to do is formulate a design and send it along.
The site is intentionally similar to the well-known Drudge Report, an online news aggregation popular for breaking sensational political stories. Shoker said he felt Matt Drudge has been lacking of late.
"I felt [Drudge] needed a little more bias and a little more filtering," he said.
His need to constantly produce drove him to create his own Drudge-like design.
"The whole thing was kind of an impulse purchase," he said. "I regretted it almost immediately afterward."
His regret stemmed from the $50 it cost him to purchase a two-month domain, $50 he didn't have to spare. He said he will use the revenue generated by the store to pay for the cost of the domain. If he doesn't make enough to purchase an extension, he'll simply let the site die.
He said he is unsure whether anyone has purchased anything from his store, "which is really a shame because I kind of want to buy my bumper stickers."
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