So why is it getting prominent mention? Big media spin by the White House veterans? In any event, like Lee Rainie, founding director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project says, the Internet is custom-made for niche interests, so have at it:
But YouTube, which is owned by Google, has also been a favorite target of conservatives, who accuse the site of a liberal bias.
Railing against YouTube, two Republican White House veterans have launched QubeTV as a conservative alternative.
"The 2008 campaign will be dominated by video and in particular by user-generated video," says QubeTV founder Charlie Gerow, a former aide in the Ronald Reagan White House.
"There are a vast array of young conservative activists and operatives out there armed with cell phones or hand-helds that are going to capture the next 'macaca' moment or John Kerry bad joke and put them on Qube TV," says Gerow, whose Pennsylvania strategic media firm, Quantum Communications, created the Web site.
Gerow insists YouTube banned a video by conservative blogger Michelle Malkin about radical Islamists.
Responding to that incident, a statement on the Web site reads: "We fly the conservative flag here at QubeTV, and we will not be about banning or deleting conservatives."
YouTube takes issue with Gerow's assertion that the site is banning conservative content.
"That's flat out incorrect," says a spokesman for YouTube, who asked not to be identified by name.
...YouTube says its users, not YouTube employees, police the site. However, if users flag inappropriate content, YouTube managers review it and remove the offending video from the site.
...But YouTube isn't the only site raising the ire of some conservatives.
Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales' Internet encyclopedia, also has some conservative competition on the Web. Conservapedia.com was founded in November 2006 by Andrew Schlafly, son of conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly.
A statement on the Web site reads: "It's time for the conservatives to get our voice out on the Internet!"
...The difference in approach -- a classic "wiki-war" -- is not uncommon, and Rainie suggests that the conservative alternatives are natural outgrowths of the Internet.
"The Internet is all about niches," says Rainie. "It makes perfect sense for all kinds of groups that are organized by partisan belief and passion to create their own channels."
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