Posted on 12/03/2019 4:30:36 AM PST by Kaslin
It’s one of the questions you’re not supposed to ask in public but everyone talks about in private: What’s going on with Matt Drudge?
For conservatives, the Drudge Report was a one-stop shop for news on the Internet starting in the late 1990s. When Matt first broke the scandal involving the President of the United States and an intern, his place at the top of alternative media, as it was called then, was secured.
As always, imitators followed. But none came close to combing as many news outlets and boiling down the essence of stories like Drudge.
That was his magic – he’d plow through stories and find the nugget buried 20 paragraphs down, then he’d rewrite the headline to reflect what the liberal outlets wanted to hide.
It wasn’t just Matt. When things blew up, he had help. Andrew Breitbart learned how to do the same by working for Drudge – a skeleton crew surfing the web, arming conservatives with the pieces of information the mainstream outlets wanted buried.
But something has changed.
How Drudge works is a mystery. I’ve known several people who have worked for him as editors, taking various shifts updating the site as news changes. None have any insights into who Matt Drudge is as a person or what is happening with the clear negative slant the site has taken toward President Donald Trump, a man who was helped into the White House, in no small part, by the coverage of the Drudge Report.
I asked a friend who worked with Matt on his TV show if he’d ever heard from him again, or if he could email him to meet up for lunch if he were in the same city, just to catch up. He said he wouldn’t hear back. Once you’re out, it seems like you’re out.
There are no insights to be gleaned from anything Matt has said publicly because he doesn’t say anything publicly. There’s a generic email address reporters submit their pieces to with the headline and the link in the hope that whoever is working that particular shift will post it to the site, but that’s it.
It doesn’t get a response, your piece either shows up on the Drudge Report or it doesn’t.
When Andrew Breitbart was alive, he showed me the emails that would roll into that address – it was an endless stream. Every website, liberal or conservative, and blog would send in their pieces. It was impossible to keep up with, but they somehow did it.
One time, when Andrew’s book “Righteous Indignation” was about to come out, he’d sent me an advance copy, which I’d read the night I got it. At about 5:00 am, I’d emailed Andrew telling him I really liked it. A minute later my phone rang, it was Andrew.
He had a bunch of questions about what I thought about this or that part, etc., the way any author is before their book comes out. I told him the only thing I wished was different was I wanted to know more about his relationship with Matt, which was only casually mentioned, almost in passing. Andrew told me he wished he could, but if he’d written one more word about him that Matt “would never speak to me again.”
To say he’s private is an understatement.
So as the Drudge Report turns more anti-Trump, we’re left to wonder why. Because Matt won’t say.
I did get a hint. I have a friend who is actual, real-life friends with Matt. I asked them what the deal is. After all, no website was more pro-Trump in 2016 than the Drudge Report. Matt even ventured to a debate to see it all firsthand. The answer was telling, if only because there’s so little to go on.
“Maybe he’s sick of nothing being done on the border,” was the gist of the answer.
If that’s the case, it would be good to know. Because the entire tone of the Drudge Report has changed. Stories about Trump’s failures, impeachment, and Democratic talking points dominate the coverage of the president. Headlines you’d expect to see on the Huffington Post are now in that familiar black text on white background.
If it’s just one issue, that seems incredibly petty. If it’s more, the audience that has made Matt Drudge a multimillionaire would like to know what it is. Since Drudge answers to no one, it’s unlikely we’ll ever know.
IIRC someone on here said that Drudge sold his site to a third party.
Heh. I found Drudge via Freerepublic. :)
I’ve never been much of a fan, though. It does what Freerepublic does, only it’s more forced there - a clearinghouse for news articles from all sources. And you can’t comment on articles.
He molted, and the real creature was revealed.
He should rename his sight Sludge.
You got it.
His face is melting.
He thinks he can make more money bashing Trump than supporting him.
the reason is out there , i read a story HERE a few months ago he no longer OWNS “the Drudge report”
What do you mean by “overzealous mods”? Can you give me an example of the type of comment that was removed by the mods that you felt shouldn’t have been?
Sorry to bother you but as you can tell by my profile I’m a noob and I definitely don’t want to run afoul of the mods.
There are three different answers here on this thread.
1. He is still with the Report but he changed.
2. He is still with the Report but he was secretly not a conservative all along, and now he is free to be the real never Trumper he always was.
3. He is no longer with the Report.
If it is true that he sold it, then why on earth are there people on this forum saying that he is still with it? He is either in control or he is not. The author of the article tried to find out and was unsuccessful.
Thanks for your comment gdc61. I read FR to get information but there is no shortage of people who present their ignorant, uninformed, impressions as if they were the truth. But there are a few good ones like you. Thanks!
“Drudge was close with Ann Coulter. What changed her?”
Her sleeping with Bill Maher
I don't mean anything personal against "mods", but rather the aggregated style of FR and posting news.
Here is an easy example. Click on "Breaking News" hyperlink on the sidebar. Do a few page downs and see what the date is. Are you kidding me? We just no longer get a sampling of "Breaking News" here in FR anymore. I think the mods need to become editors or something and get the "Breaking News" back to where it was years ago when it was one of the best news readers going with the ability to comment.
So that is what I mean in saying that. FR could be a really great news aggregator except for maybe a couple unidentified pieces.
But make no mistake, this be my home!
^^^^^^^ this
Wrong.
Never trust a clickbait site like IWB. Pure garbage.
“Sold it to Goggle over a year ago.”
patently false: they changed ad agencies
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/drudge-report-ad-revenue
there’s zero evidence that Drudge sold his website to anyone else; in fact, ALL evidence is that he still owns his own company ...
https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/drudge-sold-out-to-big-tech/
“sold out” is a headline opinion; if anyone here bothers to read the article, it makes it quite clear nothing was actually sold ... just a change in ad agencies ...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.