Sites to See: The Art of the Message

www.fixcats.com
Who says animal activists don’t have a sense of humor? The latest public service announcement by Saatchi and Saatchi, the advertising agency representing People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), was designed to encourage people to spay or neuter their cats. But this PSA is not of the after-school-special variety. The video gives a peek into how cats do indeed play when the owners are away — with kitties doing the wild thing. Even the neighborhood dogs can’t help but stare. The Web has proven to be the video’s natural home, and become another example of viral marketing phenomena (See FWD: Viral Marketing ). Several television stations have, in fact, chosen not to run the spot because of its "lewd" nature.

www.hsus.org
The Humane Society offers a less pornographic, and perhaps more informative, video meant to educate the public about spaying and neutering their pets. But the site is not just about Fido and Whiskers. It makes extensive use of streaming audio and video to educate the public on a wide range of animal causes, from what to do with those old furs, to saving the Seattle goose population.

www.freespeech.org
Everyone has their take on the way things are, the way things have been and the way they ought to be. Free Speech Internet TV is a media outlet giving voice to perspectives and venue to world events that the mainstream media seems to just gloss over. Free Speech also offers hosting services and streaming media help to a wide variety of other sites, promoting some of the most interesting on their own home page.

www.npr.org
With world news updates and programs such as "This American Life" and "Car Talk," National Public Radio (NPR) has arguably the best talk radio programming around. And its Web site streams it all. One can catch the last half hour of "Fresh Air" that was missed by arriving to work on time, or check out the local scene by browsing the list of all NPR’s affiliated local public radio stations.

www.webflicks.org
This site, which is a distribution channel for 911 Media Arts, a Seattle-based non-profit, is a real find for art-flick fans. Designed with slick cyber-green text backgrounds, it offers documentaries, animation and streaming media art creations. "The Kiss" is sure to be a favorite with its sultry, classy imagery set to classic 20s music and a timeless poem.