July 10, 2008

"How Matt Drudge Rules the (Political) World."

The headline that proves itself. WaPo's Chris Cillizza gets his Drudge Report link.
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.

"He can identify what's a big deal even when the reporters who actually cover and report on an event don't realize what they have," said one GOP strategist granted anonymity to speak candidly. "He scoops reporters' scoops."
So the reporters are now all obsessed with Drudge. Read the whole article and cringe at the vast power that has been ceded to that man.

I mean, I check out Drudge many times a day... I understand the feeling.

22 comments:

Palladian said...

How many times has the same boring article been written? Jesus, it's like "Hey, we need to fill a few inches. Can someone reword that 'Drudge Rules Media/Politics' article so we can plug the gap?"

Ann Althouse said...

But if you write it, you get a Drudge link and that's what it's all about.

Roger J. said...

The Washington Post produces yet another blinding flash of the obvious. No wonder print journalism is in trouble. Drudge is my first read of the day. You have to ignore the headlines to see what his links say, but Drudge is nothing more than an old clipping service in electronic format. News aggregator services are time savers, and I particularly like the links to various news services on the bottom of his page.

AllenS said...

Drudge doesn't do anything for me, compared to Memeorandum.com. A site I visit multiple times a day. Not to mention the attraction to that Althouse woman's blog.

Sprezzatura said...

This piece missed the huge influence on right wing radio.

Reading a fair amount (including Drudge) online removes the proverbial curtain of the big time talk radio stars. They spend three hours regurgitating what I can find for myself in ten minutes, but they are entertaining.

MadisonMan said...

I don't read drudge myself, based on big flamewar years ago on alt.showbiz.gossip. This must be why I'm so behind the times in political gossip.

Fen said...

News aggregator services are time savers, and I particularly like the links to various news services on the bottom of his page.

Yah, thats why Instapundit is my first stop on the net.

I don't care for Drudge, but it should be noted that he was the bridge between FR/LGF and ABC. If he hadn't picked up the CBS memo hoax story, the MSM would have buried it. Instead, he forced the networks to compete for what had already broken as news.

Fen said...

Add to that the Lewinksy mess that the other networks were sitting on.

MadisonMan said...

Add to that the Lewinksy mess that the other networks were sitting on.

Ew. I just had a unfortunate visual flash through my mind.

reader_iam said...

Drudge: Ugh! What a smudge.

rhhardin said...

I read Drudge the first thing every day because if there's a big story he will have it, where regular news sources often will not.

Say it's being suppressed, or held for verification, or demoted to page twenty material for the wrong political outlook.

The price is that the error rate is higher; but that's only one kind of error. The other kind is not running a correct story, which is what reading Drudge avoids.

His news judgment sucks, however, mostly.

Ann Althouse said...

MadisonMan said...""Add to that the Lewinksy mess that the other networks were sitting on.' Ew. I just had a unfortunate visual flash through my mind."

LOL. Now, I just had a flashback to a time when I was riding in a crowded NY subway car where there was one empty seat, despite many standers. A new rider came on board and delusionally believing that he had spotted a seat that everyone else missed, darted right over and sat in it. A hundred people cringed!

blake said...

I never read Drudge.

Yet he controls my attention vicariously, apparently.

Bissage said...
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Bissage said...
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Bissage said...

I am totally indebted to The Drudge Report that last night’s wet dream starred Cynthia Rodriguez rather than the usual Wednesday night rotation of either Hazel, Alice or Lurch.

Roger J. said...

At the risk of opening myself up to unlimited ridicule from the commentariat, I recently had a dream in which Alan Greenspan made an appearance--I have clearly been reading too many political blogs.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

But if you write it, you get a Drudge link and that's what it's all about.

*slaps forehead*
I thought it was the Hokey Pokey.

reader_iam said...

"Put your T-ONG-ONG-UE in,
Put your T-ONG-ONG-UE out,
Put your T-ONG-ONG-UE in,
Put your T-ONG-ONG-UE out,
..."

reader_iam said...

; )

Guesst said...

Does Drudge still have a website?

Joe said...

I find his site so hideously ugly and cheesy, I can't bear to view it.