Big Media Figures Admitting That Drudge's Influence Has Waned
It's one of the key underplayed stories of this election, but more and more media figures are beginning to acknowledge that the onetime Ruler of Their World has lost his hypnotic sway over the media.
Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post, for instance, yesterday asked: "Does Drudge matter?" Though Cillizza didn't take a position one way or the other, the mere fact that he dared to raise the question is significant. Cillizza has been one of the most prominent purveyors of the "Drudge Rules Our World" theory of American politics, as recently as a few weeks ago.
WaPo's Howard Kurtz, the ultimate Beltway media insider, also recently raised questions about Drudge's not-so-iron-grip on the press corps, asking whether his influence is "overstated" and expressing decided skepticism about Drudge's current pull.
Perhaps best of all, look at how Mark Halperin is handling Drudge this morning:
For Halperin to describe Drudge as "semi-defanged" and to rib his "fifth-to-last refuge" is a seminal moment of sorts. Recall that Halperin is the person who originally coined the "Drudge rules our world" phrase.
That's not all. The Financial Times recently weighed in with a piece called "Shock: Drudge loses his grip on US media!"
Traffic? HuffPo vaulted ahead of Drudge in September, as did Politico. While those outlets' staffs are obviously far larger than Drudge's, this still represents a blow to the former ruler of the Internets.
It's worth noting that the view that Drudge's fearsome influence is a shadow of its former self was a pretty controversial view even during this cycle, the exclusive province of whacked out liberal bloggers. Eric Boehlert sounded the siren about Drudge's tumble from the throne (as we did), and Hillary-spokesperson-turned-blogger Phil Singer has been flogging this argument, too.
The simple truth is that whatever dominance Drudge had over the cable networks just doesn't mean what it once did. The growth of a kind of reporting or narrative-manufacturing apparatus on the left, on the Internet and on cable chat, is exerting pull on the nets and helping set their agenda. Multiple times this cycle, Drudge has pushed stories that have gone belly-up (the "Carved B" hoax) or ignored stories that the networks somehow managed to extensively cover anyway (McCain adviser Carly Fiorina's gaffe that McCain wasn't equipped to be CEO of a major company).
More broadly, in the new and fractured media environment, the cable-bubble-narrative has competition and doesn't necessarily reign supreme anymore to begin with.
Now the bigs are on the story.
Developing...
Lotta right wing media folks... gonna be going down.
October 31, 2008 11:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
Drudge will be back. People like him don't ever really "go away;" they just "reinvent" themselves--along with their "reinterpretations" of the truth.
Although Drudge will return, however, there's no reason for the media to turn a blind eye to the fact that he's discredited himself during this last year with his own campaign of smear and fear.
Drudge is not a journalist. He's a prevaricator. If he *had* a journalism degree, his college should revoke it.
October 31, 2008 11:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
You never know. Truth-tellers, unite!
October 31, 2008 11:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
Will he? When he rose to "prominence" he was one of the few internet blogs/"info" sites out there... The point is that he now has tremendous competition, and that's only likely to increase. TPM, HuffPo, Politico, etc. are expanding, and as they expand Drudge's influence will continue to diminish. He's lost any credibility that the media had falsely bestowed on him. Why would you (read: the media) go to Drudge for cooked news, when they can go to Huffington Post or Talking Points Memo (or Politico) for objective reporting. Even though HuffPo and TPM are progressive-owned/focused sites, they're not in the news spinning business that Drudge is in, and I think that's starting to give them a leg up. Some of the biggest stories of the campaign were broken by HuffPo, TPM & Politico.
October 31, 2008 11:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
The main reason Drudge's moment has passed is the rise of blogs. When he got big in 1998 all of those links at the bottom was one of the few places that you could find the links in one place. Journalists prize economy of time and this was one stop shopping. He linked the AP wire and a generally agreed consensus of Beltway heavy hitters; what more did you need?
And, in the old-media world, Drudge still seems cutting edge. Look at those links down the center for "columnists". Dave Barry hasn't had a regular column for years; it's not like Drudge would link to his blog otherwise. Camille Paglia! Harry Knowles! It's like 1999 encased in amber!
Almost as a rule, he doesn't link to blogs of either side-probably because he's barely a writer himself, has no editorial voice, and his big-print and broadcast focus means he misses everything that isn't fed to him top down. What he does is make the people who he links to feel relevant, and guys like Halperin return the favor.
October 31, 2008 12:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Cillizza has been one of the most prominent purveyors of the 'Drudge Rules Our World' theory of American politics, as recently as a few weeks ago."
*Thank you, thank you, thank you* for speaking the truth.
This has irritated me no end for the longest time--precisely because there's no damn good reason for the Washington Post to be taking its cues from a known and habitual LIAR.
As for Howie Kurtz, well, he's just lost.
October 31, 2008 11:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
I have never understood the fascination with this crude, messy website. I have looked at Drudge two or three times since I first heard about it a few years ago, and I just don't get why it gets so much buzz.
Please explain.
October 31, 2008 11:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
The only thing I can possibly think of is that Drudge's website loads fast due to limited graphics.
October 31, 2008 11:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
"I have never understood the fascination with this crude, messy website. "
It was one of the first, it loads fast and displays well at a variety of resolutions, it gets all the stories in front of you on a single screen (or at worst a one-screen scroll), it's not filled with advertising, it's got lots of good (and not so good) links (including TPM) right there on the home page. I actually think it's a pretty well designed website, though not a beautiful one. Besides, while Drudge is a rightwinger, he never met a scandal he didn't like, so it's sort of like reading the National Enquirer. But I think the "all the headlines in one eyeball" is the biggest thing. I glance at it every day.
Now, if you want an example of a poor website, HuffPo provides one. Cluttered, hard to read, stuff like "most popular" that moves on its own (any web designer that puts moving content on a page should have his/her fingers cut off), gaudy. I like their content, but their website makes my head hurt so much I don't often visit it.
October 31, 2008 12:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for your explanation, and for everyone else who described the fascination with Drudge. It's very helpful.
The three times I ever visited his site were by by accident--reading something and then carelessly clicking the link, followed by an "Aw, damn...what the hell?"
Like all the fear and loathing of "evil genius" Karl Rove stuff, I just never understood the hype.
Neither one of them are all that.
October 31, 2008 3:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
O my god - The entire goddamn rightwing edifice is collapsing.
This is more than I could have hoped for - the end of the Eggman?
- if this takes down Drudge, Atlas Jugs, Malkin, Hinderocker and the rest - what are we going to have to bitch about?
I'm not sure I can stand all this good news?
October 31, 2008 11:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
We've all just been raptured!
October 31, 2008 11:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
Shit I'm beginning to think that we have!
October 31, 2008 11:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
White House, Senate, House, guvs - AND the media!
It's almost too much.
Almost.
October 31, 2008 11:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
I swear to God, Molly Ivins is up there pulling strings!
October 31, 2008 12:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Cosign times 10! Yes!
October 31, 2008 12:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Drudge has always been a GOP propaganda tool and nothing more. Lazy MSM folks would use it for an easy story, which basically made them part of the GOP propaganda machine.
However he killed any credibility he had this season with his pushing of the Pittsburgh mutilated McCain Campaign Staffer" story. Not only did he not wait for the facts, he pushed some fantastical account that he seemed to dream up. That and the cherry-picked polls to try and sell the drama of the race tightening. He's not even pretending anymore - he's probably angling for a program on Fox News or something.
October 31, 2008 11:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thing is, Jonze - Drudge has always done just what you are saying brought him down.
He never checked before he put one of those flashing lights up on his site. He was never trustworthy but they went to him anyway.
More than his failure to check facts is causing this - it's a seismic shift in the zeitgeist - it really is.
October 31, 2008 11:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well, that's the point really. The competition now has as much or more visibility as he does and they push back - their credibility goes up and his goes down. It's karma, baby!
October 31, 2008 12:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just what Focks News needs -- another yammering has-been whose ratings are tanking.
October 31, 2008 11:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
He had a Fox gig a few years ago. Didn't last long.
October 31, 2008 11:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
I honestly never understood the fascination with Drudge. I've clicked through to his site a few times and it seems that he is most useful in providing links to a plethora of other news and information sources across the spectrum. While his personal opinion dictates what gets the most play on his page - it largely seems to be headlines without a story. Drudge is one more of those "popular" things I just don't get - like frozen yogurt and Lord of the Rings.
October 31, 2008 11:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
ditto. How and Who made Drudge so important?
October 31, 2008 11:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Presidential Pee Pee Posse of 1998.
October 31, 2008 11:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
He does occasionally break stories before other news sources do -- mainly because he doesn't fact check or play by the rules of professional journalism (though few seem to these days anyway).
October 31, 2008 12:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Co-sign.
October 31, 2008 11:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
Behold the power of competition. Drudge was the first big boy on the block. Now the block is getting crowded. Plus being a conservative just ain't cool at the moment.
http://pufferfish.typepad.com/
October 31, 2008 11:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's how Drudge did it - he got in early. He's been around forever - he was among the first to seize the opportunity the internet presented.
He just misused it. Though he has been wildly successful. God if this is the end of the Eggman -
October 31, 2008 11:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
Competition is moving aside lots of right-wing sound machines; Drudge happens to be the most visible.
Everything Bush is on the way out. The slow melting started in 2006. The water is now boiling.
Look at the extremely low success rate of the voter suppression efforts. Another example of the extreme right moving back to their rightful place: on the fringe. The moderates have a huge task before them: rebuild this broken, barren party. They will continue to shed the BushBS as they redefine the purpose of their party.
Yep Tena, the right wing edifice is indeed crashing down all around us. They put so much tension in the system; we are experiencing the release of a lot of pent up energy.
Just think, if things weren't so bad, we likely would not be in a position to push forward so much change. We're creating a government that is getting back in synch with the evolution of humankind.
October 31, 2008 11:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
My Kingdom for a Penis Story !!!!!
October 31, 2008 11:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'll celebrate when I see Drudge divulge the gay liaison between Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Rielly, forcing them both to resign from their jobs and move to Sweden for simultaneous sex changes! Because you know, knowing those two, they won’t even get that right!
October 31, 2008 11:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
That is both funny and disgusting at the same time.
October 31, 2008 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
This news junkie removed Egg Man from his bookmarks a couple of months ago, and I've never looked back. It's very liberating!
Reading this item really warms the ol' cockles of my heart.... Drudge can't shrink back into insignificance soon enough for me.
October 31, 2008 11:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
Guess sliming and smearing can take you only thus far.
October 31, 2008 11:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
I used to check Drudge a few times a day. This election season he's definitely been off his game, and I hardly ever go there. His page used to capture the zeitgeist better than anyone else (albeit with a huge conservative bias), but lately it's like he's describing an alternate universe. Things that are huge (but that help Obama) don't appear at all. He hypes silly things. For the first time I can remember, he simply doesn't seem to understand the political moment at all.
October 31, 2008 11:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think Drudge has been on the same game he's always been on. This election and all of them.
The only thing that has changed is that the press realizes that the kind of rightwing unverified bullshit Drudge has always peddled isn't selling newspapers any more.
October 31, 2008 11:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
Now for heaven's sake will someone publicly declare that Mark Halperin is de-fanged??? And that the MSM can no longer disguise the reprinting of candidate talking points as actual reporting???
October 31, 2008 11:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
Gasp! What next, Karl Rove really isn't a genius?
Somewhere in the world, David Gregory is weeping.
October 31, 2008 11:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
Nicely said!
October 31, 2008 11:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think Gregory wasn't a half bad White House correspondent but his show on MSNBC is a frikkin joke. He can find that one poll that inched up a point for McCain and make that the subject, 'McCAIN CLOSING THE GAP!, while ignoring the other 9 that show Obama inching up.
His job seems to be to keep things churning.
October 31, 2008 11:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
GOOD RIDDANCE.. one less right-wing nutjob exerting undue influence.....
October 31, 2008 11:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
Here's Drudge's latest headline-- UGH!:
THE BIG PURGE: SKEPTICAL REPORTERS TOSSED OFF OBAMA PLANE
October 31, 2008 11:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
This was all over AM radio this morning. I guess we know who they read--Drudge, Fox News, Washington Times...
October 31, 2008 11:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
I agree about how messy is website is let alone how wrong it is. I dislike Chris Cilizza. Never thought much of his blog. Still don't even though he's seen the light
October 31, 2008 11:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
Just someone pinch me - Peggy Noonan has gone off into the kind of raptures she used to use only for Reagan and now is using about Obama.
Holy mother of god -the only thing missing is magic dolphins.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122539802263585317.html?mod=special_page_campaign2008_mostpop
October 31, 2008 11:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
What is the world coming to?
Drudge's influence waning, and Peggy Noonan rapturizing over Obama? Am I dreaming? Is this heaven?
October 31, 2008 11:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
Don'tcha love it when you wake up and you're in a parallel universe that actually loves progressives?
October 31, 2008 11:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
T. Boone Pickens thinks going green is now a good idea afterall, and that Global Warming is a vital concern. Target sees the common sense in selling chemical-free cleaning. Costco has discovered that not only tree-huggers will buy giant boxes of organic cereal. Wal-Mart now thinks that the environment is really important.
Like the hippies of the 60's, the liberals of today were right all along.
October 31, 2008 11:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah but she's right.
October 31, 2008 11:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
You're right, it's a great article.
I'm probably going to get slammed here for saying so, but the reason why Noonan likes both Reagan and Obama is that Reagan and Obama are in many ways very similar. They both had/have a rare ability to stay above the fray and look at the big picture. Noonan is a "big picture" person as well, so she appreciates this quality.
October 31, 2008 11:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's true - that's not slam worthy - it's true.
I've said so myself - Obama is changing the electoral map - like Reagan did and he's doing it with a campaign that is based on almost the same thing Reagan used: Optimism.
I think it's a particularly apt comparison. The politics aren't the same at all - but Obama I think looked at Reagan's campaign and learned from it.
October 31, 2008 11:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
Not only will I not slam you for it, I'll co-sign.
I wrote this blog over six months ago saying the same thing.
October 31, 2008 4:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Love this part:
"We witnessed from him this year something unique in American politics: He took down a political machine without raising his voice."
On November 5th, it would be two political machines: the Clinton machine and the GOP machine. I seriously doubt that someone else will accomplish that on my lifetime (and I'm 27 years old).
"History never looks like history when you are living through it."
John W. Gardner (1912-2002)
October 31, 2008 11:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well, I wrote last week that Sanity was coming for sure. The KARMA Virus - even repubs can catch it!
October 31, 2008 12:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
... in terms of the execution of his political ascent, still the primary and almost only area in which his executive abilities can be discerned ...
Feh. Left-handed compliments. Noonan's still a repug whore and always will be. She's worse than lieberman, sucking up to whoever's on top.
October 31, 2008 12:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow, Peggy Noonan waxing eloquent for Obama. That's a change I can believe in.
For all of the talk about McCain's crucible of being a POW, there's little mention of how Obama, through all of his hardships, managed to get a scholarship to Columbia and Harvard Law School, where he graduated magna cum laude.
Without diminishing McCain's experience in any way, Obama's past probably has more to do with why he would make a superior president to John McCain. The ability to think things through especially these days, matters.
October 31, 2008 2:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
The question shouldn't be "Has Drudge's Influence Waned?" but "Why Did This Hack Have Any Influence in the First Place?"
October 31, 2008 11:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well, at the risk of repeating this so many times that it starts making people mad - Drudge did it by getting in ahead of anyone else. Drudge has been online for over 8 years.
October 31, 2008 11:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
10 years, Tena. The Monica Lewinsky saga made Drudge.
October 31, 2008 11:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes - I guess I'm stuck in Bush-ville.
October 31, 2008 11:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
That still doesn't explain why the most influential journalists in the most powerful country (and one where freedom of the press is enshrined in its founding document) in the world decided to outsource their work to a aggregative hack with a blatant conservative bias.
All I'm trying to say is that a little soul searching on the part of the MSM might not be a bad idea right about now.
October 31, 2008 11:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Halperin link seems to lead to the wrong place.
Here's one question: how was the Ashley Todd incident bad for Drudge or the media? Wasn't the added drama of the lie beneficial for everyone covering the story, in terms of viewer numbers/paper sales?
October 31, 2008 11:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's not the Drudges of the world who are killing democracy. It's the John Kings and Wolf Blitzers and Tom Brokaws and Bob Schieffers and pretty much the whole crew at Politico with their false equivalency malpractices.
October 31, 2008 11:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
Where do you think they got it?
Drudge.
He is the root of a lot of evil.
October 31, 2008 11:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
How come I (28 years in newspaper journalism) didn't get it then? How come Glenn Greenwald and Josh Marshall and Greg Palast and Amy Goodman and (fill in the blanks) didn't get it then?
Journalism has been been in decline for a long time.
Truth-seekers have always been in short supply. Is it getting any better? I don't think so, percentage-wise.
And it won't get any better, with five megacompanies owning most of the media.
October 31, 2008 11:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
Drudge did it by getting in ahead of anyone else.
(to Bill Clinton's Wayward Wang)
October 31, 2008 11:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Clenis!
God I haven't hardly had to use that wonderful term that Jenn of Ark came up with 7 years ago now.
October 31, 2008 11:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
Republicans, Drudge, Limbaugh, and the 527 smear and fear groups rely heavily on an uninformed and uninspired public.
The same old bs doesn't work anymore. Not this time. Not this year. The public is tuned-in to the issues. They are fired-up and ready to go.
October 31, 2008 11:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
Check this out:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-news/reporting/sam-stein
This is how bankrupt of ideas McSlime and co. are...forced to claim that Obama is, erm...endorsing McSlime!
Maybe they're hoping no-one will, you know...notice that Obama is his opponent.
My opinion? No ifs, ands or buts...McScum is a gone goose.
October 31, 2008 11:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
Why would McCain want the endorsement of someone who pals around with terrorists?!
October 31, 2008 11:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
..a Commie who pals around with terrorists and kills babies while sharing the wealth. That's why I could never vote for McSlime, the kind of people who endorse him.
October 31, 2008 11:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
Good one.
October 31, 2008 11:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
Kind of reminds me of one of Groucho's lines:
"I'd never join a club that would have me as a member"
October 31, 2008 12:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's kind of breathtaking, really.
Don't vote for Obama, vote for me cause I have the Obama Stamp of Approval?
LOL!!!!!
October 31, 2008 11:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Next up - they'll adopt the Obama logo - somehow.
October 31, 2008 12:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Googles saved this election.
October 31, 2008 11:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
And the MySpaces and Facebooks!
October 31, 2008 11:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
And don't forget the YouTubes.
October 31, 2008 12:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
FWIW, I haven't logged on to the dreaded Drudge for over a year.
October 31, 2008 11:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Just wanted everyone to know. I got my first Honk and a middle finger today from some woman with Ohio license plates.
I'm guessing it was because of my Obama sticker.
October 31, 2008 11:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well either that or you cut her off.
LOL!
October 31, 2008 11:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, realist,,,, the equivalency thingy is alive and well at the School of Journalism, as it were, at our local state university,,,, the world's foremost second rate state university some call it,,,,, Its Scripts School of Journalism was recently bankrolled by none other that Roger Ailes hisself. Their local 'toy' news broadcast is nothing but equivalency things,,,, read by students of the school who have not a clue what they're talking about. If they are the future,,,,,gggrrrrrrr !
October 31, 2008 11:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
I almost never read Grudge.
October 31, 2008 11:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
Me neither.
October 31, 2008 11:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
I never did!
I never even clicked on links to Drudge. He gives me the whim whams. There's something dirty about Drudge and always was.
October 31, 2008 11:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's cause you know he types with one hand.
October 31, 2008 12:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
I gotta buy stock in popcorn- gonna be fun watching them play the blame game- any bets on how long they will fight amongst themselves?
October 31, 2008 11:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
Chris Cillizza of WaPo.... Am I confusing this guy with someone of a similar name who's a semi-regular on Countdown?
October 31, 2008 11:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
Same guy.
October 31, 2008 11:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
You know why Drudge is swirling down the drain?
Because forwarding conservative stories handed to you by the likes of Rove and slapping it on your web site DOESN'T MAKE YOU A GODDAMN JOURNALIST!!!!!!!
Eventually people realize that you're a puppet, a sucker.
October 31, 2008 11:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
You know why forwarding conservative stories and circulating White House memos as news finally is on the verge of a downfall?
TPM, DailyKos, Salon, Atrios, Media Matters, Air America Radio (despite it's rocky existence), Matthew Iglesias,
Steve Gilliard - god love him - I miss you, Gilly. I wish you'd lived to see this and I hope you are seeing this from wherever you are.
October 31, 2008 12:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Was it Monica who made Drudge famous?
Imagine: You're a lazy journalist in 1998. You find handy "breaking news" on this web site. Bubba gets a BJ!
So you're hooked. Just click on Drudge, and half the day's work is done!
But it's now 2008. Lazy journalists can get story ideas from TPM, Kos, etc.
October 31, 2008 12:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're right - Monica made most of those wingers - Coulter is another one who rode in on Monica's blue dress.
October 31, 2008 12:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Drudge goes down the drain because the hollowness of trickle down economics has finally been exposed by our current economic crisis.
October 31, 2008 12:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Matt Drudge: the Walter Winchell of the Internet
October 31, 2008 12:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
More like the Hedda Hopper of the Starboard Fringe Lunatic Set.
As Brando referred to her:
the one with the hat
October 31, 2008 12:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Most of the media people who used to parrot his stuff now have their own online presence so ego starts coming into play. They take themselves seriously and don't want to be seen just repeating what some non-journalist in a silly hat has to say.
October 31, 2008 12:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
How accurate are Drudge's visits numbers? And I wish people would stop referring to this ass clown as a journalist. He's an overfed carp wearing a silly hat.
October 31, 2008 12:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Relatedly -- one of the things I like about the Obama campaign is they take on those whackjobs like Drudge and Fucks. For a long time Democrats were unwilling to counter when whackos were singing the "liberal media bias" song to which many MSM orgs danced a self-restrained, equivalency dance, whereas Fucks was running loose. Drudge and Fucks are both still utter idiots, but the way Mygan Kelly was frantically defensive the other day convinces me we should keep calling on those liars. Thank god for Internet, which has made it much easier to do so.
October 31, 2008 12:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ironic, isn't it, that the Internets brought down Drudge, along with the rest of the bullshit-making apparatus? That will be the historians' view of this point in history. No doubt, this entire transition will be credited to the online aspect of information gathering and sharing. YouTube (Macaca, anyone?), the flash polls after the debates (which rendered the pundits' analyses irrelevant), the netroots, and most of all the FACT CHECKING (in whatever form). Drudge was there to feed 24-hour TV news cycle, but TV isn't the primary game anymore.
Riddance. The good kind.
Next up, FOX and the AP. Dinosaurs all.
October 31, 2008 12:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nicely done TPM ... Drudge, IMHO, will simply become a cog for the filth water underlying FoxNews and their dirt-digging machine to nail politicans and celebrities that are antithetical to their ideology.
SHOCK: See how FoxNews even today uses Drudge as a DIRECT SOURCE:
http://cid-e780c16f79d3848d.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/fox2.JPG
Developing ...
October 31, 2008 12:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Couldn't happen to a nicer pundit. Think the right wing media's seeing a decline too. One just hope it escalates as the scales fall from people's eyes and the light of awareness returns.
October 31, 2008 12:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Drudge has chosen to be irrelevant. I agree he is a clown, less than skin deep. It's just he had people fooled for an amazing run.
October 31, 2008 12:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
BOYCOTT SNL ON SAT. DONT GIVE MCCAIN THE RATINGS. YOU CAN ALWAYS SEE IT ON YOUTUBE LATER.
October 31, 2008 12:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've been boycotting the show since the mid-90s.
October 31, 2008 12:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
(any web designer that puts moving content on a page should have his/her fingers cut off),
Hear, hear! And an ad shouldn't animate until a button is clicked. I hope a law concerning this is one of Obama's first legislative acts.
October 31, 2008 12:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
The fact that these clowns took Drudge so seriously for so long shows what pathetic, unredeemable echo-chamber geeks they are. Why on earth should we give any weight to their opinions, on this or any other matter?
October 31, 2008 12:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
The end of Bush will mean the end of FOX, too. I don't know why I'm so positive about that, but I am. I have always been convinced of that. I guess we will find out.
October 31, 2008 12:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
big deal, drudge losing influence. he's not and has never been even worthy of mention on your website. the walter cronkite of our era! that idiotic statement simply attests to what a dope halperin is.
October 31, 2008 12:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Anyone dressing up for Halloween today? Im wearing a tee with a big question mark on it and a badge that says UNDECIDED VOTER. ((painful to do but it may win me the most UNbelievable costume award since everyone knows Im the most rabid O supporter at my job.)) :-)
October 31, 2008 12:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm just a little media figure -- the sometime national wire editor for a metro daily -- and I can say nobody in our newsroom even speaks of Drudge anymore. His bias was always there, but it became so blatant and so intense as this campaign wore on, he became useless. Nobody much cares anymore what the wingnuts think, and that's all he appeals to with his ultra-biased "insta-polls." Good riddance, Matty boy.
October 31, 2008 12:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Developing ..." = Wicked awesome.
October 31, 2008 12:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
What I long for is to hear that when Laura Ingraham does lunch with Matt Drudge it has to be at a Subway.
October 31, 2008 12:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Back in 2006, I was so outraged reading about the Ryan campaign videoing Obama's every move, that I went to Obama's web site and made a donation, then Ryan had t withdraw de to his peculiar "Republican Family Values". When I heard he was running for President, I though there was no way, Hillary is a lock, there is too much racism, subtle and blatant on the USA. But his calm demeanor, and thr discipline shown by his campaign has been amazing. If you want to know who should be President, look at McCadaver's campaign, he can't control his staff or running mate. Contrast that with the Obama Campaigns discipline and staying on message, and ability to keep thier eye on the ball. Contrast that with McCadaver's lack of direction. He would be a disaster as President, sort of like Bush withe the same blood lust, plus a temper. we have hs 7+ years of a President who goes by his guy, how has that worked for you? Then there's Palin, I told my neighbor after she wsa picked, that she would cost McCadaver the election. I hope to be wrong about Obama and right about Palin.
My Birthday is Nov 5th, and I hope to wake up to 60+ Senate and President Obama. Then I will know there is a God.
October 31, 2008 12:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, me too and mine too.
October 31, 2008 11:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Some day somebody is going to have to explain why Drudge ever had any influence in the first place.
http://sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Banana_Republicans:_The_Echo_Chamber
October 31, 2008 12:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
As if we needed any more proof of Drudge's worthlessness, the headline on his site right now is about Obama kicking 3 conservative reporters off the campaign plane. It's called "The Big Purge!"
You've got to be kidding me. It's the Friday before the election and that's the most important thing people need to see and to be "reporting" on?!?!? (That's rhetorical since we are talking about Drudge.)
October 31, 2008 1:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
And now this afternoon Fox has a doctored photo from Obama's press plane to look like a dark forbidden place like you would see on a politic attack ad.
What a farce. News agency? Please.
October 31, 2008 2:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
The hoax story burned Drudge bad.
Karl Rove and Co. despise the media because it's turn on them; they no longer control it. With the Internet it's easily to find out what is a smear and what is not.
October 31, 2008 3:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
I like Chris Cillizza (follow him on Twitter), but suspect that his bravery re Drudge has more to do with his taking Dana Milbank's place on Countdown than anything else.
That said, will be more than happy if Drudge loses whatever influence he may have had!
October 31, 2008 5:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Three things are not long hidden: the Sun, the Moon and the Truth." Buddha
The Truth _always_ comes out. Drudge is going into total eclipse.
Satya.
October 31, 2008 6:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Three things are not long hidden: the Sun, the Moon and the Truth." Buddha
The Truth _always_ comes out. Drudge is going into total eclipse.
Satya.
October 31, 2008 6:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
If Drudge's website goes under how the hell will he make a living - men's room attendant? And let’s not forget that Bill O'Reilly's ratings are going down as his bile goes up. Could truth be rearing its ugly head?
October 31, 2008 8:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
I never go to Drudge to find out anything. I only ever went there to post an insult in his Tip window. That's the only thing of value on the site.
October 31, 2008 8:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agree with all above, as it pertains to MD being the first to harness the internet as a post-journalistic vehicle for news distribution, but is now being passed by more complete writers. In that way, internet news bears a striking resemblance to the first decade plus of (white) rock & roll. Drudge is Elvis to Arianna Huffington's Pat Boone & Josh Marshall's Beatles. & now, I anxiously await Drudge's Elvin in Vegas moment. Think how garish his costuming will be.
November 2, 2008 8:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
*resemblence
November 2, 2008 8:39 PM | Reply | Permalink