Posted on 02/29/2008 1:06:06 PM PST by OESY
Ten years ago, he was a reclusive 31-year-old who, bashing away on a laptop in his grungy Hollywood apartment, shot to prominence after he broke the Monica Lewinsky scandal that threatened to bring down Bill Clinton's presidency.
Now, Matt Drudge owns a luxurious home on Rivo Alto Island in Florida's Biscayne Bay, a condominium at the Four Seasons in Miami, and is said to drive a black Mustang.
He remains an elusive, mysterious figure, but the Internet pioneer is arguably the world's most powerful journalist.
Mr. Drudge is still an outsider, contemptuous of the cosy relationships and closed-door deals that keep the ordinary person from being privy to the secrets of the establishment.
He is the reason why people across the globe are now reading about Prince Harry serving in Afghanistan after he shattered a news blackout agreed between Fleet Street and Buckingham Palace.
His royal scoop came three days after he posted a photograph of Senator Obama dressed in the tribal garb of a Somali elder, claiming it had been sent as an e-mail by a member of Senator Clinton's campaign.
It appeared to be a brazen attempt to fuel rumors that Obama was a dangerous Muslim, and within minutes, the photograph was topping the American news agenda.
Welcome to the world of the Drudge Report. A world in which the successor to Walter Cronkite and Bob Woodward is a loner with no university education or journalistic background.
Once derided by the press and political elites, he is now surreptitiously courted by them, such is their fear that he has the power to change the course of the American election....
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
Ping!
Thought he retired.
However, has he ever done any real investigation or reporting? He just seems to be a wire service. Is that journalism?
Also, he has made some very poor judgments over time. Breaking the embargo on Prince Phillips tour in Afghanistan has done noone any good.
Sometimes it is OK for us to wait a bit to find out what happened. Speedier is not always better.
Someone pays his bills.
It is a dangerous thing when people believe that the media is telling the truth, ANY part of the media.
IIRC, Drudge has stated that he does not consider himself to be a “journalist”.
Matt’s commentary on this crazy election cycle is greatly missed! They least he could do is write a weekly column or show up on the cable networks to throw his two cents worth in.
I found Free Republic ten years ago - by clicking a link on the Drudge Report!
Clark Kent
I like Drudge but I feel bad for Harry. Good that Harry did get to have a few days of real life on the front lines, though.
I have NEVER even clicked on an ad on the Drudge Report. How does he earn all that money?
This site is geared toward the Pacific North West but it has a lot more content and commentary...
The horror!
Same here.
Same here....then I lurked for a year before I signed up....
Same here. Found FR through Drudge. Better still, I found some other sites. Even better, Matt isn’t a “journalist”.
He points out the FACTS like a lot of the MSM doesn’t.
The same thing happened with me!
Matt Drudge was a Freeper until he was driven away because of his support for Bush during the 1999 election cycle.
Then,I check Drudge Report last thing at night, when turning off the computer...
I recall reading him in the early days when much of what he posted was movie grosses for the weekend.
It is one of those events that “I remember where I was when...” the night I walked into the office to find his headline on Newsweek executives planning to spike the Clinton/Lewinsky story.
I sat down and started writing e-mails, making calls and sending faxes to every media outlet I could get addresses/numbers for - as well as logging into many AOL chat rooms (there really was a functioning AOL in those days) and didn't go to bed until my wife came in to check on me in the early morning hours.
Interesting times....thanks for allowing me this indulgence.
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