- MATTHEW DRUDGE
- grew up in a Maryland suburb of Washington,
D.C., and by many measures had a troubled
youth. Drudge lived at various times
with either of his divorced parents—his
mother, a lawyer on the staff of the late
Senator Ted Kennedy, or his father, a social
worker. Growing up, he reportedly had very
few friends but was an avid fan of news and
news talk radio. Drudge graduated from high
school near the bottom of his class in 1984.
He went on to such jobs as convenience
store clerk, telemarketer for Time-Life Books
and after moving to Hollywood, California,
clerk in the gift shop at CBS Studios. Drudge
never went to journalism school and his
background is unusual for an individual who
would become one of the most famous—
albeit controversial—conservative online
commentators in America.
Until 1994, Matthew Drudge was a
virtual unknown. In that year, however, he
began writing and e-mailing a conservative
commentary newsletter to a limited number
of friends. This newsletter—which eventually
became known as The Drudge
Report—developed a reader base of more
than 1,000 subscribers in its first year
alone; within two years, it had up to 85,000
subscribers, making The Drudge Report an
online phenomenon.
The Drudge Report rose to major news
blog status after it broke the President Bill
Clinton–Monica Lewinsky sex scandal story,
which also helped to make Drudge himself
a celebrity among audiences of Fox News
Network and the Rush Limbaugh show. In
addition, subsequent reports on such politically
sensitive breaking news stories
contributed to The Drudge Report’s nonstop
national growth, turning it into a direct
competitor of such mainline news outlets as
the Washington Post and Newsweek magazine
and of network TV news programs. This
enviable position allowed Drudge to set the
media and public agenda on certain news
With his conservative newsaggregation
site, The Drudge
Report, Matthew DRUDGE
helped to redefine what it
means to be a journalist in
the 21st century.
stories. As is true for its liberal-leaning rival
The Huffington Post, the success of The
Drudge Report is rooted in the remarkable
increase in Web audiences for three topics:
political commentary, debate surrounding
the two most recent presidential elections
and exposé stories about alleged ethical
breaches or wrongdoings by candidates for
high political office.
Without question, Matt Drudge and
his online report have had a significant impact
on journalism in the United States. But
is Drudge truly a journalist? Or is he just a
very effective political self-promoter? To answer
this question we must first define
what a journalist is and then explain how
that definition has evolved in the 21st century.
This task is actually quite a challenge
because many professional activities fall under
the term “journalism.” Traditionally, a
journalist is a professional writer and/or reporter
whose goal is to inform the public
and, on the public’s behalf, monitor the actions
of government, corporations and
other societal organizations. Should they
uncover any suspected wrongdoings,
journalists are responsible
for exposing this
misconduct to the public—
what is known as
muckraking. (For more on
this topic, see Chapter 11 on
media law and ethics.)
Some journalists focus on
entertaining the public with
stories about film and TV
stars, sports figures, music
celebrities and the like, as well
as on educating the public
about advances in science,
health and technology. Others
offer critiques of books, films,
cars, fashion and travel. Some
hold to the concept that journalism
acts to protect the vulnerable
of society against societal forces of
injustice—in the words of syndicated writer
and humorist Finley Peter Dunne
(1867–1936), “to comfort the afflicted and
afflict the comfortable.”
So does Matt Drudge fall into any of
these traditional definitions of a journalist? Or
for that matter, do any of today’s bloggers or
I-Reporters who file independently produced
video news segments that reach millions of
viewers through outlets ranging from
YouTube to CNN? The answers to such questions
are changing today. In fact, in response
to the digitization and cyberspace-based
convergence of all forms of “news media,”
so is the entire profession of journalism (see
Chapter 2 for a brief history of media and
Chapter 4 for a discussion of print media). As
such, a clear 21st-century definition of “the
journalist” and guidelines for how he or she
should operate have yet to emerge. Even so,
we understand that today’s journalists are
“new journalists” who abide by a different
set of rules than their
youth. Drudge lived at various times
with either of his divorced parents—his
mother, a lawyer on the staff of the late
Senator Ted Kennedy, or his father, a social
worker. Growing up, he reportedly had very
few friends but was an avid fan of news and
news talk radio. Drudge graduated from high
school near the bottom of his class in 1984.
He went on to such jobs as convenience
store clerk, telemarketer for Time-Life Books
and after moving to Hollywood, California,
clerk in the gift shop at CBS Studios. Drudge
never went to journalism school and his
background is unusual for an individual who
would become one of the most famous—
albeit controversial—conservative online
commentators in America.
Until 1994, Matthew Drudge was a
virtual unknown. In that year, however, he
began writing and e-mailing a conservative
commentary newsletter to a limited number
of friends. This newsletter—which eventually
became known as The Drudge
Report—developed a reader base of more
than 1,000 subscribers in its first year
alone; within two years, it had up to 85,000
subscribers, making The Drudge Report an
online phenomenon.
The Drudge Report rose to major news
blog status after it broke the President Bill
Clinton–Monica Lewinsky sex scandal story,
which also helped to make Drudge himself
a celebrity among audiences of Fox News
Network and the Rush Limbaugh show. In
addition, subsequent reports on such politically
sensitive breaking news stories
contributed to The Drudge Report’s nonstop
national growth, turning it into a direct
competitor of such mainline news outlets as
the Washington Post and Newsweek magazine
and of network TV news programs. This
enviable position allowed Drudge to set the
media and public agenda on certain news
With his conservative newsaggregation
site, The Drudge
Report, Matthew DRUDGE
helped to redefine what it
means to be a journalist in
the 21st century.
stories. As is true for its liberal-leaning rival
The Huffington Post, the success of The
Drudge Report is rooted in the remarkable
increase in Web audiences for three topics:
political commentary, debate surrounding
the two most recent presidential elections
and exposé stories about alleged ethical
breaches or wrongdoings by candidates for
high political office.
Without question, Matt Drudge and
his online report have had a significant impact
on journalism in the United States. But
is Drudge truly a journalist? Or is he just a
very effective political self-promoter? To answer
this question we must first define
what a journalist is and then explain how
that definition has evolved in the 21st century.
This task is actually quite a challenge
because many professional activities fall under
the term “journalism.” Traditionally, a
journalist is a professional writer and/or reporter
whose goal is to inform the public
and, on the public’s behalf, monitor the actions
of government, corporations and
other societal organizations. Should they
uncover any suspected wrongdoings,
journalists are responsible
for exposing this
misconduct to the public—
what is known as
muckraking. (For more on
this topic, see Chapter 11 on
media law and ethics.)
Some journalists focus on
entertaining the public with
stories about film and TV
stars, sports figures, music
celebrities and the like, as well
as on educating the public
about advances in science,
health and technology. Others
offer critiques of books, films,
cars, fashion and travel. Some
hold to the concept that journalism
acts to protect the vulnerable
of society against societal forces of
injustice—in the words of syndicated writer
and humorist Finley Peter Dunne
(1867–1936), “to comfort the afflicted and
afflict the comfortable.”
So does Matt Drudge fall into any of
these traditional definitions of a journalist? Or
for that matter, do any of today’s bloggers or
I-Reporters who file independently produced
video news segments that reach millions of
viewers through outlets ranging from
YouTube to CNN? The answers to such questions
are changing today. In fact, in response
to the digitization and cyberspace-based
convergence of all forms of “news media,”
so is the entire profession of journalism (see
Chapter 2 for a brief history of media and
Chapter 4 for a discussion of print media). As
such, a clear 21st-century definition of “the
journalist” and guidelines for how he or she
should operate have yet to emerge. Even so,
we understand that today’s journalists are
“new journalists” who abide by a different
set of rules than their