How Matt Drudge Rules the (Political) World

The Washington Post ^ | Thursday, July 10, 2008 | Chris Cillizza

[kristinn]

There's little debate that Matt Drudge and his eponymous website sit at the junction of politics and journalism in the modern media age.

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And yet, for anyone who follows the day in, day out nitty-gritty of campaign politics (as we do) it is well worth reminding yourself of how much power Drudge has to push a particular storyline or a broader narrative in the race.

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"Drudge has become center court at Wimbledon," said Alex Castellanos, a Republican media consultant and adviser to former governor Mitt Romney's presidential bid. "If it doesn't happen there, it doesn't happen."

What explains Drudge's reach?

In interviews with more than a dozen operatives -- many of whom are rightly classified "Drudge-ologists" for their intimate study of the likes and dislikes of the man and the site -- two major reasons are offered.

First and foremost, is the depth -- and the quality -- of Drudge's readership. Drudge's number of unique visitors is regularly touted but what is more important, in terms of his ability to drives news cycles, is that every reporter and editor who covers politics is checking the site multiple times a day.

Phil Singer, former deputy communications director for Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign and now a Democratic consultant, called Drudge's "elite readership" a key to his influence. Singer added that a walk through any press filing center at a debate reveals every other laptop, at least, has Drudge's website up on its screen.

The second major reason for Drudge's influence, according to the Fix's informal poll of Drudge-ologists is his ability to sniff out a potentially big story when others -- including reporters -- miss it at first glance.

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[50sDad]

And yet, for anyone who follows the day in, day out nitty-gritty of campaign politics (as we do) it is well worth reminding yourself of how much power Drudge has to push a particular storyline or a broader narrative in the race.

I lived through 30+ years in which if an item was not on the Evening News of the Big Three TV Networks, it was not news. They had a stranglehold on what was covered, what was pushed, what remained hot news and what faded from view. The aliens from "V" could have slowly taken over the nation in the days before cable news, and if Dan Rather and Walter Cronkite didn't bring it before you, you wouldn't know about it. So, where were the reporters, news-writers, and media pundits back then to bewail how much power the network anchors had in shaping American public opinion?

Guys, your networks are compost. Dead, dead, dead. The Internet means that anyone with a keyboard can reach out and expose hypocrisy, and Drudge carried it off by revealing the Emperor's Blue Dress. All your electronic news gear, satellite trucks, laptops and teleprompters, and you still can't see that your age is over. You have nurtured a media environment where the viewer views facts and entertainment with just about the same weight, so don't come crying to me when an entertaining reporter does your job for you and reports what your Liberal buddies want hidden.

[50sDad]

Our Founders, back in the days when real men came to blows over their politics, published pamphlets in the town square to persuade other to their views and to inform the public about what was going on in their turbulent world. For a long while, news became controlled by the Democratic News Machine...they reported what they wanted to, in the way they wanted to. When I went to journalism school thirty years ago, they drummed into us the need to be objective, to report the facts in a way that didn't show your own bias. (What a laugh!) Anyone who sees the way the MSM craft, coax and manipulate what is news sees the bias ooze through.

And then came the Internet, and suddenly, we are back in the town square. Got an opinion? Fire up the world's biggest printing press, and let people know! The Net has brought back democracy, because now everyone can be heard!

[Spok]

This is nothing less than jealousy from the liberal MSM that would like laws passed that give them and the Democrats an exclusive stranglehold on political news. It’s ironic that the media should rebel against the guarantees of the First Amendment, but then freedom in any form is the mortal enemy of the left.

[boogerbear]

I suppose. I got bored with Drudge a long time ago. He’s got a bunch of good links, of course eventually I bookmarked the ones I liked on my own, and the occasionally interesting headline. Back in the day it was exciting, the cutting edge of “new media”, now it’s just another linksite with some headlines.

[Miss Didi]

I love Drudge and check his site all day long. However, Matt seems to be swooning for Barry Hussein. What the heck happened? Perhaps Rush can slap some sense into him.

[MaryFromMichigan]

News junkie here, too.
Free Republic is full of ‘em!
Thank God for FR where we can get a conservative take on things, eh?

[NYC Republican]

Exactly... It’s yet another hurdle that McCain needs to overcome... Drudge has become a disgrace.

[WorkingClassFilth]

Drudge's success is simply because he's doing the job the MSM elites claim to do. In their decline, because of their incessant activism and propaganda, they now grasp for the hand of their opposite number to keep them afloat and informed. The single fact that he is a prime source (if not the prime source) shows very clearly that they know that they're drinking each other's bathwater.

His speaking engagement transcripts from the National Press Club are howlingly funny and his breaking of the Lewinsky scandal after the MSM spiked the story are immutable testimonies to the sloth, prejudice and arrogant decline of the media elite.

[ncalburt]

Its that and more. He is ignoring and hiding news stories . Matt ignored Obama “ typical white person” comment, 57 states gaffe , his recent “ snide comments about American not being bilingual” tirade, and left the Portland rally photo shop number up in headlines for 3 days even after the rally was reported to be a rock concert. It looking so slanted and biased for Obama that I think the guy has been paid off by Soros . Matt lost his radio show and that was a nice check . Or maybe he is thinking by sucking up to Osama Obama that when Obama
seizes power and shuts down the internet ( like this site)with his SMEAR POLICE evidence that MAtt will be allowed to stay open ?

[NYC Republican]

I totally disagree with you... The MSM is more powerful, and influential, than ever...

Why do I say that???

Their dwindling numbers are more than offset by 2 things...

1. The MSM has become more shrill and partisan than it ever was (think Chrissy Matthews, Olbermann), citing that they are a balance to Fox news...

2. The general populations increasingly SHORT attention span... where sound-bites and newspaper headlines rule the day for more and more folks that are too lazy to turn the page or look under the covers, to see the details behind it... In other words, easily "brain-washable"

Think about it...

[ncalburt]

sad but true

[TribalPrincess2U]

Love your tag line. We can make FR bigger then Drudge.

Hey, we don’t need no stinkin’ Drudge.

I agree with post #20, it’s Bambo 527. Irks my ass bigtime!

[Vision]

And then came the Internet, and suddenly, we are back in the town square. Got an opinion? Fire up the world's biggest printing press, and let people know! The Net has brought back democracy, because now everyone can be heard!

And the message that needs to be brought back...

[NYC Republican]

If it wasn’t, how the hel* would a nobody with no accomplishments, the most lib Senator in the nation, be the favorite to be President... Really?

[ncalburt]

If Herr Goebbels were alive today .He would be very proud of the American old Leftist media and Matt Drudge

[NYC Republican]

He had NOTHING on the Slimeball U.S. MSM.

[villagerjoel]

Anyone know why Georgia isn’t on that snake?

[Miss Didi]

You are so right. I noticed yesterday that he put up some bogus headline on Barry wanting illegals to learn English instead of Barry's proposal that our kids learn Spanish. Well, if Drudge won't do his job...we will. Here's one he missed:



RUSH: This is Chris Hernandez who is NBC Action News, Kansas City. When we played sound bites of Obama's political speech yesterday on patriotism in Independence, we listened to it, and it sounded like there was the usual Obama throng, correct? Thousands and thousands of people fainting, shrieking, throwing their underwear up there, going wacko. Not the case. Here's the report from Kansas City's NBC affiliate last night.

HERNANDEZ: There were a couple of hundred empty seats even though Obama's staff says all 1,000 tickets were given out in just two hours Saturday, and this was a much quieter crowd than at previous Obama events.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE OBAMA SUPPORTER: It was very quiet in there at one point. I felt like I was at church, almost, right before he came out.

HERNANDEZ: A member of Obama's staff tells me they didn't want to overbook and then have to turn people away, but apparently some people who got tickets Saturday didn't show up today. The quieter atmosphere may have also been because this was considered a more serious speech, and no political leaders came out to whip up the crowd before Obama started speaking.

RUSH: I didn't know that that was necessary. Political leaders whip up the crowd? Political leaders usually put 'em to sleep. I thought it was Obama that whipped up the crowd. I thought it was Obama that was The Messiah. I thought it was Obama who caused people to shriek and lose sense of their dignity and go nuts. Two hundred empty seats. They were giving them away all morning long. In a place that holds 1,000 people. So we would have never known this, we would have never known it, and outside of Kansas City nobody did know it until you just heard the Kansas City NBC report just now. That is another example of this program providing a much-needed public service, doing the job the Drive-By Media used to do but won't, i.e., tell you the truth.

[adorno]

The Drudge Report doesn’t really have anything original, it is aesthetically unpleasing

I always thought the same thing. For a very popular site, a site for news at that, I would think that Drudge could spend a few bucks in trying to make the site more appealing and easier on the eyes, with a lot better organization.

But, it's not just Drudge. It's also the Yahoos and the Googles and even the real news organizations that leave a lot to be desired when it comes to finding or searching for the news, both current or from the past, and from all sources.

I think I know how to do that, if anyone is interested. Been working on the idea for a while but still have some work to do.

[Vision]

Georgia was a tory state, one that supported the King of England, and it was not thought that they would provide much help to the revolutionary cause. South Carolina was a bit tory also and it was hell to raise troops in either state.