Posted on 11/11/2008 7:20:20 AM PST by St. Louis Conservative
At the beginning of the summer, the press considered the Drudge Report so influential that its proprietor, Matt Drudge, was thought to be in position to determine the fall election's results.
Jonathan Martin and Ben Smith of Politico wrote that he had "an uncanny ability to drive the national conversation" and quoted Mitt Romney's press secretary saying that Drudge "serves as an assignment editor for the national press corps." In a piece titled "How Matt Drudge Rules the (Political) World," Washingtonpost.com reporter Chris Cillizza wrote that Drudge and his site "sit at the junction of politics and journalism in the modern media age." Cillizza pointed to both the Politico story and the 2006 book by John F. Harris and Mark Halperin, The Way To Win: Taking the White House in 2008, which anointed Drudge as "the single most influential purveyor of information about American politics." Harris and Halperin also credited Drudge as a major reason for John Kerry's2004 defeat.
By the fall, Drudge had lost it, the press surmised. "Does Matt Drudge, an unabashed conservative, still have huge clout in shaping the media's coverage?" the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz asked on Sept. 18. "Or is his influence overstated by those seeking a simple explanation for why MSM types do what they do?" Kurtz cited TPM's Greg Sargent, who had just chronicled the decline of Drudge's influence over cable news. By late October, Media Matters' Eric Boehlert was calling the Drudge Report "unplugged down the stretch." Cillizza expanded on Boehlert's theme in his blog on Oct. 30, quoting a series of wishful headlines on the Drudge Report hinting at a possible upset of Barack Obama by John McCain.
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...
LOL Drudge will be the Bane of Obama’s existance... Look for all the Left Looney’s to try and silence Matt.
I don’t subscribe to the Enquirer and I never go to Drudge.
That would change if he returns to the Drudge of the 90’s.
There is not a newsroom in America without a browser pointed to Drudge.
Although Drudge does lean toward the right, he was very fair to Obama on many occasions. IMHO nothing anyone could have done would have changed the outcome of this election. Bambi had this in the bag due to 24 hour glowing media praise, an weak Republican candidate, failing economy and a lame duck President who's approval rating was sinking to about the IQ level of Obama.
I have just not been that hooked on Drudge. Now I am hooked on FR. Last week was like a addict on withdrawal.
Explain to me how Drudge was different, say, 10 years ago, than he is now.
Please be VERY specific.
I still look at Drudge. He has the most interesting aggregate of stories - other than Free Republic of course!
Drudge leans right for sure, however the real bias on his page is AGAINST mainstream media bias. He has also been very favorable to Sarah Palin. Drudge hates your run of the mill Republican RINOs like McCain.
FR is a lot better at presenting relevant news stories than Drudge.
I’ll give you an example of why I come here rather than Drudge. During the news cycle with the lying girl who carved a B backwards onto her own cheek, Drudge blared the headline for the whole day, while the FR thread had some reasonable commentary to temper the story that was bound to wind up as a fraud.
The value-add of FReepers themselves should never be underestimated :-)
Agreed. I still love Drudge, but that “B” mutilation story was a black-eye and an embarrassment for Drudge. Those kinds of things are pretty rare though - I look forward to him being a fly in Obama’s ointment.
Yeah, I can understand that. Whenever anyone asked why I was going to vote for McCain I always told them I wasn't voting for McCain, I was voting against Obama.
I see your sign up date was in 1998...same as mind. A decade later, and I’m as hooked on FR as I was in 1998. I can’t think of anything I’ve really done consecutively for 10 years! It’s pretty amazing!
Yeah, that was bad, wasn't it? I still cringe everytime I think of it.
He made news happen. He had sources. He had clout. When was the last time he broke an important story? Be VERY specific.
Same here. I signed up originally with my own name before my current Aug 1998 sign up date. I found FR on Drudge when it first appeared there. When did FR first come on Drudge, doesn’t anyone know?
Never underestimate the war between print and broadcast vs. the Internet. Print and broadcast has tried, with varying degrees of effectiveness to master online, yet for the most part falls significantly short of taking over the Internet. With HuffPo, Politico, Kos, and Google being so firmly inside the Obama camp, now more than ever these sites and companies need stiff competition and outing for their agendas.
Isn’t HuffPo the biggest news/political blog in the world? How did that happen?
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.