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The Drudge Report started as a ] column focusing on ] and ]<ref name="gossip">{{Cite web|url=http://epic.org/free_speech/blumenthal_v_drudge.html|title=BLUMENTHAL vs DRUDGE|accessdate=2006-12-18|format=html}}</ref> Matt Drudge began the email-based newsletter called ''Report'' from an apartment in ], using his connections with industry and media insiders to break stories, sometimes before they hit the mainstream media. Drudge maintains the website from his home in ], with help from ], who assists in story selection and headline writing.<ref name=sappell>{{cite news | last=Sappell| first=Joel |title= Hot links served up daily |publisher = ] | date=2007-08-04 |url=http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-drudge4aug04,0,4136919,full.story?coll=la-home-center |accessdate = 2007-08-04 }}</ref> Breitbart, who describes himself as "Matt Drudge’s bitch",<ref name="biyatch">{{Cite web|url=http://www.reason.com/news/show/122048.html|title=Lists: What's Your Source for That? Where Andrew Breitbart gets his information.|accessdate=2008-10-01|publisher=ReasonOnline.com}}</ref> works the afternoon shift at the Drudge Report,<ref name="afternoon">{{Cite web|url=http://gawker.com/5044885/andrew-breitbart-drudges-human-face|title=Andrew Breitbart: Drudge's Human Face|accessdate=2008-09-10|publisher=Gawker.com}}</ref> as well as running his own website (breitbart.com), and another website providing a ] support system for people in the Los Angeles entertainment industry.<ref name="breit-infidel">{{Cite web|url=http://www.observer.com/2008/arts-culture/hollywood-infidel?page=0%2C1|title=Hollywood Infidel|accessdate=2008-10-01|publisher=Observer.com}}</ref> The Drudge Report started out as a ] column focusing on ] and ]<ref name="gossip">{{Cite web|url=http://epic.org/free_speech/blumenthal_v_drudge.html|title=BLUMENTHAL vs DRUDGE|accessdate=2006-12-18|format=html}}</ref> Matt Drudge began publishing the email-based newsletter called ''Report'' from an apartment in ], using his connections with industry and media insiders to break stories sometimes before they hit the mainstream media. Drudge maintains the website from his home in ], with help from ], who assists in story selection and headline writing.<ref name=sappell>{{cite news | last=Sappell| first=Joel |title= Hot links served up daily |publisher = ] | date=2007-08-04 |url=http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-drudge4aug04,0,4136919,full.story?coll=la-home-center |accessdate = 2007-08-04 }}</ref> Breitbart, who describes himself as "Matt Drudge’s bitch",<ref name="biyatch">{{Cite web|url=http://www.reason.com/news/show/122048.html|title=Lists: What's Your Source for That? Where Andrew Breitbart gets his information.|accessdate=2008-10-01|publisher=ReasonOnline.com}}</ref> works the afternoon shift at the Drudge Report,<ref name="afternoon">{{Cite web|url=http://gawker.com/5044885/andrew-breitbart-drudges-human-face|title=Andrew Breitbart: Drudge's Human Face|accessdate=2008-09-10|publisher=Gawker.com}}</ref> as well as running his own website (breitbart.com), and another website providing a ] support system for people in the Los Angeles entertainment industry.<ref name="breit-infidel">{{Cite web|url=http://www.observer.com/2008/arts-culture/hollywood-infidel?page=0%2C1|title=Hollywood Infidel|accessdate=2008-10-01|publisher=Observer.com}}</ref>


Drudge, who began his website in 1997 as a supplement to his $10/year email newsletter,<ref name="porkies"> Drudge, who began his website in 1997 as a supplement to his $10/year email newsletter,<ref name="porkies">
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|accessdate=2009-03-13 |accessdate=2009-03-13
}} }}
</ref> received national attention in 1996 when he broke the news that ] would be Republican ]'s running mate in the ]. In 1998, Drudge made national waves when he broke the news that '']'' magazine had information on an inappropriate relationship between "a White House intern" and President ] (the ]), but was withholding publication.<ref name="drudgemonica">{{cite web| last = Drudge| first = Matt| title = Newsweek Kills Story On White House Intern| publisher = The Drudge Report| date = ]| url = http://www.drudgereport.com/ml.htm| accessdate = 2006-10-05 }}</ref><ref name="newsweekheld">{{cite news | last =Johnson| first =Glen| title =Newsweek got, held scoop on Clinton story| publisher =AP/Denver Rocky Mountain News | date =1998-01-23| url =http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-5261149.html| accessdate = 2007-04-05 }}</ref> After Drudge's report, ''Newsweek'' published the story.<ref name="newsweekstory">{{cite news |last=Fineman |first=Howard |coauthors=Karen Breslau |title=Sex, Lies and the President |publisher=Newsweek |date=1998-02-02 |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NWEC&p_theme=nwec&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EC05F711C09BB0F&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |accessdate=2007-04-05 }}</ref> </ref> first received national attention in 1996 when he broke the news that ] would be Republican ]'s running mate in the ]. In 1998, Drudge again made national waves when he broke the news that '']'' magazine had information on an inappropriate relationship between "a White House intern" and President ] (the ]), but was withholding publication.<ref name="drudgemonica">{{cite web| last = Drudge| first = Matt| title = Newsweek Kills Story On White House Intern| publisher = The Drudge Report| date = ]| url = http://www.drudgereport.com/ml.htm| accessdate = 2006-10-05 }}</ref><ref name="newsweekheld">{{cite news | last =Johnson| first =Glen| title =Newsweek got, held scoop on Clinton story| publisher =AP/Denver Rocky Mountain News | date =1998-01-23| url =http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-5261149.html| accessdate = 2007-04-05 }}</ref> After Drudge's report, ''Newsweek'' published the story.<ref name="newsweekstory">{{cite news |last=Fineman |first=Howard |coauthors=Karen Breslau |title=Sex, Lies and the President |publisher=Newsweek |date=1998-02-02 |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NWEC&p_theme=nwec&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EC05F711C09BB0F&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |accessdate=2007-04-05 }}</ref>


== Content == == Content ==
The ''Drudge Report'' site consists mainly of selected<ref name="lawyer">{{cite book | title=The lawyer's guide to fact finding on the Internet| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=FOyDyI-yHm4C&pg=PA203| last=Carole A.| first=Levitt| coauthors=Mark E. Rosch| date=2006| pages=198| publisher=American Bar Association|quote=Along with the links comes Drudge's own (conservative) opinions on the news stories he chooses to highlight. | id=1590316711}}</ref> ]s to news websites all over the world. These linked stories are generally hosted on the external websites of mainstream media outlets. The site also has links to media outlets and columnists. It sometimes includes stories written by Drudge &mdash; usually two or three paragraphs in length. They generally concern a story about to be published in a major magazine or newspaper. Drudge occasionally publishes ], ], or ] ratings, or early election ]s that are otherwise not made available to the public. The ''Drudge Report'' site consists mainly of selected<ref name="lawyer">{{cite book | title=The lawyer's guide to fact finding on the Internet| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=FOyDyI-yHm4C&pg=PA203| last=Carole A.| first=Levitt| coauthors=Mark E. Rosch| date=2006| pages=198| publisher=American Bar Association|quote=Along with the links comes Drudge's own (conservative) opinions on the news stories he chooses to highlight. | id=1590316711}}</ref> ]s to news websites all over the world. These linked stories are generally hosted on the external websites of mainstream media outlets. The site also has links to media outlets and columnists. It sometimes includes stories written by Drudge &mdash; usually two or three paragraphs in length. They are generally concern a story about to be published in a major magazine or newspaper. Drudge also occasionally publishes ], ], or ] ratings, or early election ]s that are otherwise not made available to the public.


The site carries advertisements. The ''Drudge Report's'' advertising is sold by Kevin Lucido, who runs the ]-based ad firm ''Intermarkets''.<ref> The site carries advertisements that generate the site's revenue. The ''Drudge Report's'' advertising is sold by Kevin Lucido, who runs the ]-based ad firm ''Intermarkets''.<ref>
{{cite web {{cite web
|url=http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=33037aaf-848f-4b79-8a75-34d6c793457e&p=2 |url=http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=33037aaf-848f-4b79-8a75-34d6c793457e&p=2
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</ref> </ref>


A 2003 study (see ]) placed the ''Drudge Report'' "left of center".<ref> http://mason.gmu.edu/~atabarro/MediaBias.doc</ref> The study was criticised by ]<ref name="Language Log">{{cite web| last = Liberman| first = Mark| title = Multiplying ideologies considered harmful| publisher = Language Log|date=2005-12-23| url = http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002724.html| accessdate = 2006-11-06}}</ref><ref name="Language Log.">{{cite web| last = Liberman| first = Mark| title = Linguistics, politics, mathematics| publisher = Language Log|date=2005-12-22| url = http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002723.html| accessdate = 2006-11-06}}</ref> and liberal media watchdogs.<ref> A 2003 study (see ]) placed the ''Drudge Report'' "left of center".<ref> http://mason.gmu.edu/~atabarro/MediaBias.doc</ref> The study was criticised as flawed by critics, including Professor ]<ref name="Language Log">{{cite web| last = Liberman| first = Mark| title = Multiplying ideologies considered harmful| publisher = Language Log|date=2005-12-23| url = http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002724.html| accessdate = 2006-11-06}}</ref><ref name="Language Log.">{{cite web| last = Liberman| first = Mark| title = Linguistics, politics, mathematics| publisher = Language Log|date=2005-12-22| url = http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002723.html| accessdate = 2006-11-06}}</ref> and liberal media watchdogs.<ref>
{{cite web {{cite web
|url=http://www.spinwatch.org.uk/latest-news-mainmenu-10/157-us-politics/2468-flawed-ucla-led-study-on-medias-liberal-bias |url=http://www.spinwatch.org.uk/latest-news-mainmenu-10/157-us-politics/2468-flawed-ucla-led-study-on-medias-liberal-bias
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|publisher=www.spinwatch.org.uk |publisher=www.spinwatch.org.uk
|accessdate=2009-03-07 |accessdate=2009-03-07
|last=* |last=
|first= |first=
}} }}

Revision as of 23:44, 8 June 2009

Drudge Report
The Drudge Report
Type of businessPrivate
Type of siteNews aggregation & blogging
Available inEnglish
Founded1996
HeadquartersMiami, FL, USA
OwnerMatt Drudge
Founder(s)Matt Drudge
Key peopleMatt Drudge, Andrew Breitbart
Employees2
URLwww.drudgereport.com
AdvertisingYes
RegistrationNo
Launched1994
Current statusActive

The Drudge Report is a news aggregation website generally considered to be conservative. Run by Matt Drudge with the help of Andrew Breitbart, the site consists mainly of links to stories from the United States and international mainstream media about politics, entertainment, and current events as well as links to many columnists. Occasionally, Drudge authors news stories himself based on tips. The Report originated in 1996 as a weekly subscriber-based email dispatch. It was most famous for being the first news source to break the Monica Lewinsky scandal to the public after Newsweek decided not to publish the story.

Origins

Selected Stand-Alone Political Blogs & News Sites
Site Unique Audience Sept. 2008
huffingtonpost.com 4,545,000
politico.com 2,362,000
drudgereport.com 2,059,000
Source: comScore Media Metrix

The Drudge Report started out as a gossip column focusing on Hollywood and Washington, D.C. Matt Drudge began publishing the email-based newsletter called Report from an apartment in Hollywood, California, using his connections with industry and media insiders to break stories sometimes before they hit the mainstream media. Drudge maintains the website from his home in Miami Beach, Florida, with help from Andrew Breitbart, who assists in story selection and headline writing. Breitbart, who describes himself as "Matt Drudge’s bitch", works the afternoon shift at the Drudge Report, as well as running his own website (breitbart.com), and another website providing a conservative support system for people in the Los Angeles entertainment industry.

Drudge, who began his website in 1997 as a supplement to his $10/year email newsletter, first received national attention in 1996 when he broke the news that Jack Kemp would be Republican Bob Dole's running mate in the 1996 presidential election. In 1998, Drudge again made national waves when he broke the news that Newsweek magazine had information on an inappropriate relationship between "a White House intern" and President Bill Clinton (the Monica Lewinsky scandal), but was withholding publication. After Drudge's report, Newsweek published the story.

Content

The Drudge Report site consists mainly of selected hyperlinks to news websites all over the world. These linked stories are generally hosted on the external websites of mainstream media outlets. The site also has links to media outlets and columnists. It sometimes includes stories written by Drudge — usually two or three paragraphs in length. They are generally concern a story about to be published in a major magazine or newspaper. Drudge also occasionally publishes Nielsen, Arbitron, or BookScan ratings, or early election exit polls that are otherwise not made available to the public.

The site carries advertisements that generate the site's revenue. The Drudge Report's advertising is sold by Kevin Lucido, who runs the Vienna, Virginia-based ad firm Intermarkets.

In April, 2009, Associated Press announced that it would be examining the fair use doctrine used by sites like Google and Drudge Report to justify the use of AP content without payment.

On May 4, 2009, the US Attorney General's office issued a warning to employees in Massachusetts not to visit the Drudge Report because of malicious code contained in some of the advertising on the website. The Justice Department also cited other sites such as ESPN.com as having viruses.

Design

File:Drudge-report.png
Example screenshot of the Drudge Report front page, November 1 2008.

The Drudge Report was described by Cheryl Woodard, co-founder of PC, Macworld, PC World and Publish magazines, as "a big, haphazard mishmash of links and photos" and by Dan Rahmel as "popular despite a plain appearance". The Report website is simple and, according to Paul Armstrong of webwithoutwords.com, retro in feel. Jason Fried of 37signals.com calls it "one of the best designed sites on the web." It consists of a banner headline and a number of other selected headlines in three columns in monospaced font. Most link to an outside source, usually the online edition of a newspaper, which hosts the story. When no such source is available, either because the story is 'developing' with little known details at the moment or is an exclusive scoop, a special page is created on the Drudge Report servers which contain text and possibly images.

There are different importance levels a story could appear as on the site, the rating of which relies on Matt Drudge's editorial discretion. The Report almost always holds one major story above the logo, usually just one sentence hyperlinked to the most important story of the day. Other stories surrounding the main headline can be found in the upper left hand side of the page and link to more specific articles dealing with aspects of the headline story. The standard story, either the headline or links below the logo, are written in black. The stories Drudge considers most important are in red, all under a single major headline in large, bold type. For especially important breaking stories, especially if still emerging, Drudge places a flashing red siren on the screen.

Although the site initially featured very few images, it is now usually illustrated with five or six photographs. Generally the images, like the linked headlines, are hotlinked from other news agencies' servers.

Political leanings

Matt Drudge has said that he is a conservative, but "more of a populist". The Drudge Report website is generally regarded as conservative in tone, and has been referred to in the media as "a conservative news aggregator". More recently Richard Siklos, an editor of Fortune magazine, called the Drudge Report a "conservative bullhorn", the Los Angeles Times labelled Drudge a "well-known conservative warrior", the New York Times referred to him as a "conservative muckraker", and Glenn Greenwald called him a "right-wing hack". Greenwald also wrote that the Drudge Report (inter alia) is part of the "Bush/Cheney right-wing noise machine", adding: "Allowing to dominate our political debates and drive media coverage guarantees a decrepit, rotted, and deeply corrupt country. ... Their endless lynch mob crusades supplant rational and substantive political debates."

Ben Shapiro of townhall.com wrote "The American left can't restrict Internet usage or ban talk radio, so it de-legitimizes these news sources. Ripping alternative news sources as illegitimate is the left's only remaining option -- it cannot compete with the right wing in the new media....They call Matt Drudge a muckraker and a yellow journalist."

A 2003 study (see details) placed the Drudge Report "left of center". The study was criticised as flawed by critics, including Professor Mark Liberman and liberal media watchdogs. The authors stated that although "conventional wisdom" asserts that the Drudge Report is "relatively conservative", their methodology found it to be "centrist". The authors placed Drudge Report in a dead heat with Fox News Special Report With Brit Hume as most centrist outlet.

Influence

According to Mark Halperin, "Drudge's coverage affects the media's political coverage", effectively steering the media's political coverage towards what Halperin calls "the most salacious aspects of American politics." In The Way To Win, a book written by Halperin and John Harris, Drudge is called "the Walter Cronkite of his era." Democratic Party strategist Chris Lehane says "phones start ringing" whenever Drudge breaks a story, and Mark McKinnon, a former media advisor to George W. Bush, said that he checked the site 30–40 times per day. Matt Drudge has been criticized by other media news personalities: Bill O'Reilly twice called Drudge a "threat to democracy" in response to Drudge disclosing his book sales figures, and Keith Olbermann referred to Drudge as "an idiot with a modem".

Drudge (and his website) was labelled one of the "Top 10 anti-Barack Obama conservatives" by the US editor of The Daily Telegraph in February 2009.

In addition to the media influence, Drudge Report also has influenced design elements on other sites. Some with opposing view points and some who use the same format of listing news. A left-leaning parody site called Drudge Retort was founded in 1998 as "a send-up of Mr. Drudge's breathless style".

Traffic statistics

Brand or Channel Sessions per Person Unique Audience
Yahoo! News 7.2 35,846,000
MSNBC Digital Network 6.2 35,184,000
CNN Digital Network 7.8 33,101,000
AOL News 7.8 22,524,000
NYTimes.com 4.5 21,340,000
Google News 5.5 11,356,000
USAToday.com 3.7 10,785,000
Fox News Digital Network 8.7 10,132,000
washingtonpost.com 3.7 9,204,000
DrudgeReport.com 20.1 3,008,000
Extract from Nielsen's Top 30 Online Current Events & Global News Destinations, May 2008

In March, 2008, the Newspaper Association of America listed The Drudge Report as having a readership of about 3.5 million with up to 19 visits per person per day. The revisit number is increased by the site's use of an autorefresh script which refreshes the page every three minutes.

According to Nielsen NetRatings, Drudge Report had 3.4 million unique visitors in February, 2009.

On May 16, 2009 Alexa Internet ranked the Drudge Report website one month average ranking at 891, down 103 places in 3 months. Average time spent on the site per user was 3.0 minutes a day.

Compete.com showed 2,629,948 unique monthly visitors in April, 2009 — an increase of 20% in one year, and a ranking of 650, down from 630 a year earlier.

ComScore logged 2 million uniques to the Report in September 2008, and 1.7 million uniques in April, 2009.

According to the online advertising company linked to his site, the Drudge Report audience is 78 percent male, 60 percent Republican, and 8 percent Democrat.

In October, 2006, Washington Post editor Leonard Downie, Jr. stated that for bloggers, the "largest driver of traffic is Matt Drudge."

Archives

Many reports from 1995 to early 1997 are available in the Usenet archive provided by Google Groups. A more extensive archive of the website is provided by Drudge Report Archives, which has archives since mid-November 2001 and stores snapshots of the Drudge Report homepage every two minutes.

Notable stories

Monica Lewinsky scandal

The Drudge Report attained prominence when it was the first to report what came to be known as the Lewinsky scandal. Drudge published the story on January 17, 1998, after Newsweek reportedly turned down the story.

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth

During 2004 U.S. presidential campaign, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth group made claims about John Kerry's war record, which were mentioned by Drudge and investigated by major newspapers and TV networks.

Obama photo

Drudge published a photo of Barack Obama in Somali tribal dress on February 25, 2008, and reported that the photo had been sent to him by a Clinton campaign staffer. The publication of the photograph resulted in a brief war of words between the Clinton and Obama campaign organizations.

Prince Harry in Afghanistan

On February 28, 2008 Drudge published an article noting that Prince Harry of Wales was serving with his regiment in Afghanistan. Prince Harry was ten weeks into a front-line deployment in Afghanistan that was subject to a voluntary news blackout by the UK press. The blackout was designed to protect Prince Harry and the men serving with him from being specifically targeted by the Taliban.

An Australian weekly women’s magazine New Idea broke the story in January, but it was not followed up at the time. New Idea editors claimed ignorance of any news blackout. Then a German newspaper, the Berliner Kurier, published a short piece on February 28, 2008, also before Drudge. Drudge subsequently claimed the report as an exclusive. Chief of the General Staff Sir Richard Dannatt, professional head of the British Army, said: "I am very disappointed that foreign websites have decided to run this story without consulting us". The Prince's tour of duty was prematurely ended, since his unit might be targeted by large scale suicide attacks intended to kill the Prince. In the Have Your Say section of the BBC website, BBC viewers were highly critical of the Drudge Report's decision to leak the news.

Controversial stories, errors and questions about sourcing

Exclusives

Research by the media magazine Brill's Content in 1998 cast doubt on the accuracy of the majority of the 'exclusives' claimed by the Drudge Report. Of the 51 stories claimed as exclusives from January to September 1998, the magazine found 31 (61%) were actually exclusive stories. Of those, 32% were untrue, 36% were true and the remaining 32% were of debatable accuracy.

Sidney Blumenthal lawsuit

In 1997, the Drudge Report reported that incoming White House assistant Sidney Blumenthal beat his wife and was covering it up. Drudge retracted the story the next day and apologized, saying he was given bad information, but Blumenthal filed a $30 million libel lawsuit against Drudge. After four years, Blumenthal dropped his lawsuit. Blumenthal said the suit had cost him tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees. He agreed to pay $2,500 to Drudge's Los Angeles attorney for travel costs, claiming that Drudge was "backed by unlimited funds from political supporters who use a tax-exempt foundation." The Individual Rights Foundation, led by conservative activist David Horowitz, paid Drudge's legal fees in the Blumenthal lawsuit. A federal judge noted in the judgment that Drudge "is not a reporter, a journalist, or a newsgatherer. He is, as he admits himself, simply a purveyor of gossip."

Alleged John Kerry intern scandal

During the 2004 Presidential campaign, Drudge ran a story quoting General Wesley Clark, where Clark claimed that the John Kerry campaign would implode over an intern affair. Drudge reported that other news outlets were investigating the alleged affair. He removed it from the site shortly thereafter when the other news outlets dropped the investigations.

Alleged Bill Clinton illegitimate child

In 1999, the Drudge Report announced that it had viewed a videotape which was the basis of a Star Magazine and Hard Copy story. Under the headline, "Woman Names Bill Clinton Father Of Son In Shocking Video Confession", Drudge reported a videotaped "confession" by a former prostitute who claimed that her son was fathered by Bill Clinton. The Report stated, "To accuse the most powerful man in the world of being the father of her son is either the hoax of a lifetime, or a personal turmoil that needs resolution. Only two people may know that answer tonight." The claim turned out to be a hoax.

Alleged CNN reporter heckling of GOP Senators

On April 1 2007 Drudge cited an unnamed "official" source saying that CNN reporter Michael Ware had "heckled" Republican Senators McCain and Graham during a live press conference. Drudge reported that:

An official at the press conference called Ware's conduct "outrageous," saying, "here you have two United States Senators in Bagdad giving first-hand reports while Ware is laughing and mocking their comments. I've never witnessed such disrespect. This guy is an activist not a reporter."

— 8px, in The Drudge Report, Matthew Drudge, 8px

Ware disputed Drudge's report on CNN April 2 2007, saying that the story was leaked "by an unnamed official of some kind to a blog", that the story was anonymous, and that no one was willing to put their name to it; he advised people to view the tape. Video hosted by Rawstory shows that Ware did not make a sound nor ask any question during the press conference. The Drudge Report did not retract or apologize for the story. Drudge's report was echoed in The Washington Times, which carried opinion questioning Ware's trustworthiness, and in many conservative blogs, some of which called for Ware's resignation.

Oprah and Sarah Palin

On September 5, 2008 the Drudge Report reported that Oprah staffers were "sharply divided on the merits of booking Sarah Palin." He said that he obtained the information from an anonymous source. Winfrey responded in a written statement to news outlets that: "The item in today’s Drudge Report is categorically untrue. There has been absolutely no discussion about having Sarah Palin on my show. At the beginning of this presidential campaign when I decided that I was going to take my first public stance in support of a candidate, I made the decision not to use my show as a platform for any of the candidates." Drudge was accused of planting a false story for political ends by some commentators.

Ashley Todd attack hoax

On October 23, 2008, Drudge published an unconfirmed exclusive story regarding Ashley Todd, the 20-year old employee of the College Republican National Committee (CRNC) and John McCain volunteer who had allegedly been attacked by a black male for having a McCain sticker on her car. Drudge reported the story without a link but as 'developing', titling the headline "SHOCK: McCAIN VOLUNTEER ATTACKED AND MUTILATED IN PITTSBURGH - "B" carved into 20 yr old Woman's Face". The story set off a "storm of media attention", being quickly picked up by many conservative bloggers and right-wing talk radio show hosts, all citing the Drudge Report as their source. It was also reported in newspapers and TV both in the US and around the world. The story was confirmed to be a hoax perpetrated by Todd and, according to Talking Points Memo, spread to reporters by McCain's Pennsylvania Communications Director.

Drudge then printed a retraction of the story, including links to the news stories detailing that the attack had been a hoax and that Ashley Todd had performed a similar 'attack' on herself while working for the Ron Paul campaign.

References

  1. ^ Jason M Shepard, "Drudge Report", Encyclopedia of American Journalism, pp. 146–7
  2. "A NATION CHALLENGED: THE MEDIA; Network Coverage a Target Of Fire From Conservatives - The New York Times". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
  3. "USATODAY.com - Reading from the right". www.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
  4. "TheHill.com - Bank nationalization would test Obama". thehill.com. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
  5. "FT.com / Comment / Opinion - Will a funny thing happen on the way to Washington?". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
  6. "McCain labels Obama 'the redistributor' - Washington Times". www.washingtontimes.com. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
  7. "Scandalous scoop breaks online" (html). BBC News. 1998-01-25. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
  8. "Huffington Post and Politico Lead Wave of Explosive Growth at Independent Political Blogs and News Sites this Election Season". comScore. Retrieved 2008-10-28.
  9. ^ "BLUMENTHAL vs DRUDGE" (html). Retrieved 2006-12-18. Cite error: The named reference "gossip" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  10. Sappell, Joel (2007-08-04). "Hot links served up daily". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-08-04.
  11. "Lists: What's Your Source for That? Where Andrew Breitbart gets his information". ReasonOnline.com. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
  12. "Andrew Breitbart: Drudge's Human Face". Gawker.com. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
  13. "Hollywood Infidel". Observer.com. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
  14. "Profile: Matt Drudge - Webmaster of pork pies - Scotland on Sunday". scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
  15. Drudge, Matt (1998-01-17). "Newsweek Kills Story On White House Intern". The Drudge Report. Retrieved 2006-10-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. Johnson, Glen (1998-01-23). "Newsweek got, held scoop on Clinton story". AP/Denver Rocky Mountain News. Retrieved 2007-04-05.
  17. Fineman, Howard (1998-02-02). "Sex, Lies and the President". Newsweek. Retrieved 2007-04-05. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  18. Carole A., Levitt (2006). The lawyer's guide to fact finding on the Internet. American Bar Association. p. 198. 1590316711. Along with the links comes Drudge's own (conservative) opinions on the news stories he chooses to highlight. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  19. Sherman, Gabriel. "Underground Man". www.tnr.com. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
  20. "Newsmax.com - AP Worried About Google, Drudge". www.newsmax.com. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  21. "Associated Press accuses online news outlets of 'misappropriation' - Los Angeles Times". www.latimes.com. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  22. "U.S. Attorney's office tells employees not to log on to Drudge Report - Jonathan Martin - POLITICO.com". www.politico.com. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
  23. Woodard, Cheryl (2007). Every nonprofit's guide to publishing. Nolo. p. 185. ISBN 1413306586. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  24. Rahmel, Dan (2007). Beginning Joomla!: From Novice to Professional. Apress. p. 217. ISBN 1590598482.
  25. "The Drudge Report » blog". webwithoutwords.com. Retrieved 2009-04-13. Drudge Report succeeds in having that web "retro" feel of something stuck in the early 90s {{cite web}}: Text "web.without.words" ignored (help)
  26. "Why the Drudge Report is one of the best designed sites on the web - (37signals)". www.37signals.com. Retrieved 2009-04-13.
  27. "A Touching Moment (washingtonpost.com)". www.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2009-04-13. The next day, Matt Drudge followed suit with his own 'developing' Kerry-Edwards 'story' titled, 'Can't keep hands off each other.'
  28. "Silicon Insider: Surfing Upstream - ABC News". abcnews.go.com. Retrieved 2009-04-13. On a given day, the Drudge Report may contain thirty or forty sentence-long headlines, the most important ones in red, all under a single major headline in large, bold type. On the really big breaking stories, especially the ones still emerging, Drudge will even post a flashing siren on the screen
  29. "Drudge done hotlinking, finally?". www.themediadrop.com. Retrieved 2009-04-13.
  30. Sokol, Brett (2001-06-28). "The Drudge Retort". Miami New Times. Retrieved 2006-11-01. Matt Drudge: "I am a conservative"
  31. "Liberal media's voice grows stronger". Crainsnewyork.com. Retrieved 2009-03-19. On the Web, The Huffington Post has become a leading news and opinion site just three years after launching. Modeled after conservative news aggregator The Drudge Report"
  32. "Will a funny thing happen on the way to Washington?". Edward Luce. The Financial Times. Retrieved 2008-10-29. ...the conservative Drudge Report...
  33. "McCain labels Obama 'the redistributor'". Stephen Dinan. The Washington Times. Retrieved 2008-10-29. ..the conservative Drudge Report...
  34. "MoveOn.org Targets AP's Fournier for Alleged Pro-McCain Bias". Editor and Publisher (pay site, article is available elsewhere online). Retrieved 2008-09-10. ...the Drudge Report ....and numerous other conservative sites
  35. "Drudge Retort Considers Lawsuit Against AP". MediaPost NY. Retrieved 2008-12-09. ...the conservative Drudge Report
  36. "A weekly look at what's getting the most looks online". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved 2008-12-09. ...the Drudge Report, a popular conservative Web site.
  37. "Bill Clinton tells Rush Limbaugh: 'You're tan, fit, look good'". Rawstory.com. Retrieved 2008-12-09. Limbaugh spoke about how the conservative Drudge Report first reported...
  38. Richard Siklos. "The Web 2.0-defying logic of Drudge". CNN. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
  39. Wallsten, Peter. "New political era? Same as the old one - Los Angeles Times". www.latimes.com. Retrieved 2009-02-07. ...well-known conservative warriors such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Matt Drudge...
  40. "The Associated Press to Set Guidelines for Using Its Articles in Blogs - NYTimes.com". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2009-02-21. Drudge Report, run by the conservative muckraker Matt Drudge
  41. ^ Philip Weiss (2007). "Watching Matt Drudge" (html). New York Magazine. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  42. "Salon.com". www.salon.com. Retrieved 2009-04-14. {{cite web}}: Text "The growing link between the U.S. military and right-wing media and blogs" ignored (help)
  43. "Salon.com". www.salon.com. Retrieved 2009-04-14. {{cite web}}: Text "The significance of the Edwards story" ignored (help)
  44. "Ben Shapiro : Left behind: the democratization of the media - Townhall.com". townhall.com. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
  45. http://mason.gmu.edu/~atabarro/MediaBias.doc
  46. Liberman, Mark (2005-12-23). "Multiplying ideologies considered harmful". Language Log. Retrieved 2006-11-06.
  47. Liberman, Mark (2005-12-22). "Linguistics, politics, mathematics". Language Log. Retrieved 2006-11-06.
  48. "Flawed UCLA-led study on medias liberal bias". www.spinwatch.org.uk. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
  49. Tim Groseclose and Jeffrey Milyo (2005). "A Measure Of Media Bias" (pdf). Quarterly Journal of Economics. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
  50. "All Major U.S. Media Lean Left Except Fox News and Washington Times, UCLA Study Finds". www.lifesitenews.com. Retrieved 2009-03-07. ...Fox News' "Special Report With Brit Hume" and the Drudge Report - were in a statistical dead heat in the race for the most centrist news outlet...
  51. ^ "Drudge Report Sets Tone for National Political Coverage". ABC News. 2006-10-01. Retrieved 2006-10-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  52. Halpernin, Mark (2006). The Way To Win. Random House. ISBN 1-4000-6447-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  53. Drudge, Matt (2003-12-18). "Host Unhinged After Sales Figures Revealed; Calls DRUDGE 'Threat To Democracy'". Drudge Report. Retrieved 2007-03-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  54. Kurtz, Howard (1998-09-15). "MSNBC Pundit Rises With Clinton Crises". Washington Post. pp. E1. Retrieved 2006-10-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  55. "Top 10 anti-Barack Obama conservatives :: Toby Harnden". blogs.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-03-03. Drudge's deft selection of links helps build a conservative case against Obama every day.
  56. "Drudge Retort" (html). 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-24.
  57. "Jrudge Report" (html). 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-24.
  58. "The Associated Press to Set Guidelines for Using Its Articles in Blogs - NYTimes.com". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2009-03-21. The Drudge Retort was initially started as a left-leaning parody of the much larger Drudge Report, run by the conservative muckraker Matt Drudge.
  59. "Pen With Meaning". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
  60. "Drudge Retort's Retort To AP: Personal Issue Resolved But 'Larger Conflict' Remains". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
  61. "NEWS WATCH; From the Drudge Report To the Drudge Retort". New York Times. 1998. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
  62. "Nielsen: Drudge Report Leads Top 30 in Sessions per Person". Newspaper Association of America. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
  63. "Nielsen Online Names Top 30 News Sites". Newspaper Association of America. 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-26.
  64. "Latest from ReTran USA » Blog Archive » Hitwise Shock: Drudge Rank Misleading". retran.com. Retrieved 2009-04-14. Drudge's page instructs your browser to refresh once every three minutes, thus inflating the hit counts
  65. These numbers also ignore the 3-minute auto-refresh that Drudge activates on his page. "Drudge (refresh) loads 800,000,000 pages (refresh) in October '08". www.thestandard.com. Retrieved 2009-03-03. {{cite web}}: Text "The Industry Standard" ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  66. "Tina's vanity play - Crain's New York Business". www.crainsnewyork.com. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
  67. "drudgereport.com - Traffic Details from Alexa". www.alexa.com. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
  68. "huffingtonpost.com - Traffic Details from Alexa". www.alexa.com. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
  69. "SnapShot of drudgereport.com (rank #650) - Compete". siteanalytics.compete.com. Retrieved 2009-04-14 13:00. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  70. "Huffington Post and Politico Lead Wave of Explosive Growth at Independent Political Blogs and News Sites this Election Season". www.comscore.com. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
  71. "In Battle For Web Traffic, The Left Is Beating The Right (Thanks To HuffPo)". www.paidcontent.org. Retrieved 2009-05-28. Huffington Post's dominant 5.6 million uniques, which dwarfs the number-two site Drudge Report's 1.7 million monthly visitors. {{cite web}}: Text "paidContent.org" ignored (help)
  72. "'Wash Post' Editor Downie: Everyone in Our Newsroom Wants to Be a Blogger". Editor and Publisher. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
  73. "Drudge Report Archives". Drudgereportarchives.com. Retrieved 2006-10-05.
  74. "Newsweek Kills Story on White House Intern", Drudge Report, January 17, 1998
  75. "Al Jazeera English - Americas - Obama plays down photo row". english.aljazeera.net. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
  76. "Clinton Staffers Circulate 'Dressed' Obama", Drudge Report, February 27, 2008
  77. "Barack Obama tribal photo 'sent to Drudge Report by Hillary Clinton staff'", Telegraph, February 27, 2008
  78. ""News black-out"". BBC News. 2008-02-29. Retrieved 2008-03-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  79. ""New Idea defends claims it endangered Prince Harry"". Daily telegraph (Australia). 2008-02-29. Retrieved 2008-02-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  80. "New Idea pleads ignorance on Harry embargo". ABC Australia News. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  81. "Frontline Harry a well-kept secret". The West Australian. Retrieved 2008-02-29.
  82. "Harry leak disappoints army chief". BBC News. Retrieved 2008-02-29.
  83. "Army prepares to evacuate Harry after news blackout fails", The Guardian, February 29, 2008
  84. "BBC NEWS | Have Your Say | Should Harry be allowed on the front line again?". BBC News. 2008-02-28. Retrieved 2008-03-02. Nothing but contempt for the people who have leaked this story./Recommended by 607 people
  85. "BBC News". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
  86. "Blumenthal Pays $2,500 To Settle Drudge Suit". Wall Street Journal. 2001-05-04. p. B.8. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  87. Kurtz, Howard (2001-05-02). "Clinton Aide Settles Libel Suit Against Matt Drudge -- at a Cost". Washington Post. pp. C01. Retrieved 2007-04-11.
  88. Drudge, Matt (2001-05-01). "May Day: Lawsuit Against Drudge Dropped; Blumenthal Pays Cash To Get Out!". Drudge Report. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
  89. Tim McDonald (2001). "Online Matt Drudge Libel Suit Comes to 'Wimpy Conclusion'" (html). Newsfactor.com. Retrieved 2007-07-30.
  90. Polier, Alexandra (2004-06-07). "John Kerry intern scandal - Alexandra Polier's account". New York Magazine. Retrieved 2004-06-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  91. Special Reports Personal Collection. Drudge Report Archives. Retrieved on 2007-04-02
  92. Drudge, Matt (April 2 2007). "McCain heckled by CNN reporter". Drudge Report. Retrieved 2007-04-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  93. ^ "CNN's Ware flatly denies report that he "heckled" McCain, but right-wing media flog it anyway". Media Matters for America. April 2 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  94. "CNN reporter slams Drudge's charge that he 'heckled' McCain; Exclusive video confirms his claim". Rawstory. April 2 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  95. CNN's Ware fires back at Drudge report about 'heckling', USA Today April 2, 2007
  96. "UPDATE: CNN's Ware flatly denies report that he "heckled" McCain, but right-wing media flog it anyway" (html). Media Matters. 2007-04-02. Retrieved 2007-08-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  97. "FOXNews.com - Oprah Denies Report She's Balking at Having Palin on Show - Celebrity Gossip". www.foxnews.com. Retrieved 2009-02-20. {{cite web}}: Text "Arts And Entertainment" ignored (help); Text "Entertainment News" ignored (help)
  98. "US election: Storm as Oprah says no to Palin interview". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-02-20. Some experts believe the issue, initially reported on Drudge ... was a media ploy to drag Winfrey's backing of Obama into the election and show a media bias against the Republicans {{cite web}}: Text "The Observer" ignored (help); Text "World news" ignored (help)
  99. ^ "McCain volunteer admits to hoax". www.post-gazette.com. Retrieved 2009-03-03. One photo appeared on The Drudge Report on Thursday, setting off a storm of media attention.
  100. Meg White. "Ashley Todd, PA Racist Hoax "Victim," Was Paid Organizer for College Republican National Committee, Not a Volunteer". BuzzFlash.com. Retrieved 2008-10-29.
  101. "SHOCK: McCAIN VOLUNTEER ATTACKED AND MUTILATED IN PITTSBURGH - "B" carved into 20 yr old Woman's Face". Retrieved 2008-10-23.
  102. "'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Friday October 24, 2008 - Countdown with Keith Olbermann- msnbc.com". www.msnbc.msn.com. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
  103. "McCain volunteer made up robbery story". Retrieved 2008-10-24.
  104. "McCain Campaign Pushed Now-Discredited Attack Story/publisher=TPM". 2008-10-24.

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