Update: Instapundit links to Blogging Matt Drudge. Welcome, visitors!
Revolution — A sudden or momentous change in a situation.
I moved to the Washington, D.C., area in January 1998. I was staying with a friend while I searched for a job and an apartment, and I was focused on that. I wasn’t into the Internet at the time, but I began to hear rumors about the president and a White House intern. I didn’t pay any attention because I didn’t think Bill Clinton was that stupid.
Along with the rumors, the name “Drudge” was uttered here and there. When he broke the Clinton-having-sex-with-intern story, I doubt many people knew who he was or how big the story would be. He did what Newsweek didn’t want to do. These are the reports that made him famous.
Drudge doesn’t call himself a conservative, but whatever he is, one thing is for sure: liberals don’t like him and the liberal media detest him. I was working for a liberal senator on Capitol Hill in 1998 (I was liberal back then.), and whenever someone saw me checking the Drudge Report, they’d look away in disgust. Part of my job was to read the news, so I was reading the news. But Drudge was the man who brought down “our guy,” so he was reviled.
In 2000, Drudge’s how-I-became-famous book came out. Check out this CNN review of Drudge Manifesto:
The refrain of “Manifesto” is that Drudge, a “nobody,” is now a “player” in medialand. And though the book strains to emphasize that how Drudge became a player is what matters — you know, the Internet revolution and all that — what comes through more powerfully is Drudge’s sheer excitement at having obtained entree to the circles in which the news is ostensibly made.
The kind of name-dropping that the “Manifesto” indulges in — to prove Drudge’s “player”-ness, I suppose — makes for fairly unpalatable reading. Still, there is one moment in the book when Drudge becomes almost likable. He has been smuggled into a White House press briefing by a pal from ABC, and after it’s all over, touring the premises, he peers in on the Associated Press’ Terence Hunt and swoons at the sight of Hunt’s computer…
That pretty much exhausts the charm of “Drudge Manifesto” — a disorganized melange of shrill media criticism, incoherent diary entries, aimless notebook dumps, Beat-style streams of consciousness and rap rhymes, and the inevitable column reprints. Drudge has often boasted that his brand of “publish first, check later” journalism does away with the need for editors, but this book makes a poor case for the abolition of that honorable profession.
Hopefully someone pointed out to Mr. Rosenberg that his review was pretty shrill, too. What did I think of the book, you ask (I heard something)? I rushed out to buy it. I admit it’s the sort of book you have to “get,” and I got it. Quite simply, it is the story of how Drudge became “The Drudge Report.” You should buy a copy. Some of the references may be dated because the World Wide Web has exploded since 2000, but it’s still worth reading.
More on Matt Drudge? Read this Wikipedia entry about him. By the way, the Wikipedia is a collaborate encyclopedia-type of thing, and it’s another web spawn to keep an eye on. It’s a “wiki,” a term familiar to most bloggers. A wiki is a collaborative site where anyone can add or edit the content. The Internet is wild, uncharted and ever-expanding stuff! I would tell you to get in on the ground floor and start a blog, except the ground floor is always shifting.
Thanks to the fake memos scandal, blogging is being talked about. The media have known for quite awhile that bloggers are out here, but now they’re forced to acknowledge us in print. The liberal Los Angeles Times (registration req.) faced the facts: they are under scrutiny by conservative bloggers:
These days, CBS News anchor Dan Rather and his colleagues at the network’s magazine program “60 Minutes II” are enduring an unusual wave of second-guessing by some of the public and fellow journalists….
That story began Wednesday, 19 minutes after the “60 Minutes II” broadcast began, when another FreeRepublic poster, TankerKC, noted that the documents were “not in the style that we used when I came into the USAF….Can we get a copy of those memos?”
Less than four hours later, Buckhead pointed to “proportionally spaced fonts” in the memos, which CBS said had been written in the early 1970s by Bush’s commanding officer, Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, who died in 1984. Buckhead concluded that the documents had been drafted on a modern-day word processor rather than a typewriter.
“I am saying these documents are forgeries, run through a copier for 15 generations to make them look old,” Buckhead wrote. “This should be pursued aggressively.”
And it was — with startling speed.
Not a ringing endorsement, but the press is good. The only role I played was linking to the big bloggers like Power Line, but that’s good enough for now. More blogger coverage: Blogs v. 60 Minutes, Slate, NRO.
So how does Matt Drudge fit into all this? He doesn’t call himself a journalist or a blogger, but he’s definitely a forerunner of the idea that ordinary people like you and me could go after stories. He started out posting on Usenet sites in 1994, then other web sites paid him to post content on their sites.
Drudge went national in 1996 when he was the first to report that Jack Kemp would be Bob Dole’s running mate (exciting scoop, right?), and you know what happened in 1998. That was it. Drudge became the 10 million+ hits-a-day man, and advertisers pay him an arm and two legs for placement. Not bad.
So what does this all mean for blogging, which has been described as “nascent” and “underground?” We’ve been referred to as “a guy sitting in his living room in his pajamas,” and I once heard Hugh Hewitt describe bloggers as pamphleteers (”A writer of pamphlets or other short works taking a partisan stand on an issue.”), like the ones from the old days (see Thomas Paine).
Paine’s most famous publication, Common Sense, was a defense of the Revolutionary War. Bloggers are the new pamphleteers, defenders of independence, free from reliance on mainstream (liberal) media. I like the sound of it.
I have a feeling Drudge wouldn’t call himself a pamphleteer, either.
(Drawing swiped from Lonely Pamphleteer Review)
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More Forged Memo Stuff:
Update II: More info from Shot Across The Bow.
Update (9/14): Vodka Pundit discusses the dog-eat-dog media business.
American Digest discuss the abuses of power.
Semi-related: Medienkritik discusses the Hitler Diaries scandal.
***
Donald Sensing says Memogate might be over. And see Dean about Xerox machines.
Allahpundit has Wizbang news, and Blogs for Bush as a forged memos web of connections. Read Outside the Beltway’s take on the LA Times story.
I am a huge fan of the Drudgereport, both the website and radio show. I love the fear that mainstream media/liberals have of the blogsphere and the internet. It’s kinda funny considering that Al Gore invented the internet.
Comment by Eric — 09.13.04 @ 10:45 am
You know, LaShawn, I really enjoy “watching” your brain work and unfold in your writing.
I confess to only having read Drudge once or twice (but you’re more than a newspaper- proud plug!)
Rae
Comment by Rae — 09.13.04 @ 11:15 am
The whole thing is sooooooo ridiculous it’s almost laughable. Dummy forgerer - trying to fool those of us who have desktop publishing experience. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. The shame’s alllllll on you, Forgerer!
Comment by Lola — 09.13.04 @ 11:58 am
This is an exciting time!
Comment by Jerry McClellan — 09.13.04 @ 12:30 pm
Thanks for the comments, everyone. I’m excited. I really dig that pamphleteer comparison.
Comment by LB — 09.13.04 @ 12:38 pm
The liberal media are such snobs. They think that they are the ONLY ones smart enough to disseminate the news. How foolish! Thanks for being one of the brilliant bloggers who bring us the news in a more reasoned format, LaShawn.
Comment by Kiki B. — 09.13.04 @ 1:41 pm
La Shawn,
Maybe you’ve talked about it before, but what caused you to change from liberal to conservative?
Just curious….
Comment by Mad Mikey — 09.13.04 @ 3:20 pm
Simple story - As I got older, common sense invaded my brain. I became a conservative first, then a Christian. I may develop a detailed post about it.
Comment by LB — 09.13.04 @ 3:51 pm
Makes perfect sense doesn’t it Miss Barber?
I think it has been mentioned before on your blog regarding how being conservative can eventually lead to knowing God. Not that it will for sure, but it definately puts one on the right path.
This would be a fascinating blog topic!
Comment by Jerry McClellan — 09.13.04 @ 4:25 pm
Eric, you cracked me up when you wrote “It’s kinda funny considering that Al Gore invented the internet.” And you’re absolutely right - the liberal media IS terrified. Why? Because we, as bloggers, lift the veil that the media has shrouded the truth in, and I say “shroud” because the media has murdered truth, and people are realizing that. Why else are conservative talk show radio ratings skyrocketing while CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS and NBC’s ratings are spiralling downward? Why else are conservative bloggers like La Shawn’s getting massive daily hits and repeat visitors? Because the truth is being told and because, in spite of the attempts by Big Media to dumb us down, we ain’t so dumb after all. (Bad grammar just for effect.
)
Comment by Smooth — 09.13.04 @ 4:28 pm
You’re right Smooth - the writing is on the wall/screen….
Comment by Mad Mikey — 09.13.04 @ 4:44 pm
I have scanned the D.R. many times with bated breath to see all the juicy morsels of info he may have dug up. I am amazing at how many stories he can scoop up. Michael Savage calls him a ‘gossip columinist’ then there are times he supports him. Me? I just look to him as another source of news.
Comment by Warrior King — 09.13.04 @ 4:53 pm
I wanted to tell you that I am a fellow convert to conservative politics. Sometimes I think I can look back and pinpoint the moment, but, the more I’ve thought about it, the more it seems like a long journey through night into day.
Maybe the first inkling came when I was defending then President Clinton against impeachment to a colleague and we were discussing the whole Monica and sex in the whitehouse thing and I realized that I was defending a creepy behavior I would not condone in anyone else I knew?
I still question in my mind the whole impeachment thing, but I no longer question the reprehensible behavior. It was what it was and is hardly defendable. And, to those that once said how other great Presidents had similar issues, I don’t take that as a good defense.
Maybe it was the sunny day three years ago when we were attacked and, oddly enough, my first thought was, “thank G-d that it wasn’t Gore” even though I had voted for him?
Or, maybe it was the day I had to pay my first taxes on my home and other personal property taxes and wondered where my money was spent?
Or, maybe it was the long drawn out three years since that bright September day when the party I had adhered to for so long were saying incomprehensible things about taking the war to our enemies? Like Quagmires and Vietnam, as if they would be happy to see us end there? Like they are gloating today about what they perceive is the Iraq situation?
I wrote recently that the only Democrat I would have voted for was Zell Miller. The party is nearly bereft of those kind of men and makes it even more hard for me to contemplate ever moving back to that position.
So, here I am. converted and not leaving anytime soon.
Comment by kat-missouri — 09.13.04 @ 5:01 pm
Pamphleteers are exactly what this country needs right now. Thanks, La Shawn.
Comment by Eric the Libertarian — 09.13.04 @ 5:06 pm
Maybe the fourth estate has finally encountered its check and balance…blogging!
Comment by Jim — 09.13.04 @ 7:23 pm
Sneaks Wide World of Blogging
The other day I wrote a Personal Manifesto, of sorts, that announced a re-direction of my focus around here after discovering how writing about Politics, and the War, had far out numbered entries of other types over the course of…
Trackback by Sneakeasy's Joint — 09.13.04 @ 8:41 pm
The 10 Spot - Monday Edition
Strengthen The Good has picked it’s latest micro-charity - it is the Brent Woodall Foundation For Exceptional Children, which offers care and education to autistic children and their parents. The Foundation was created by Tracy Woodall, who lost her h…
Trackback by Wizbang — 09.13.04 @ 9:31 pm
LB said: “As I got older, common sense invaded my brain. I became a conservative….”
Winston Churchill said: “If you are young and not liberal, then you don’t have a heart. If you are older and not conservative, then you don’t have a brain”
Comment by Jim R — 09.14.04 @ 12:52 am
I think Churchill was quoting from the French, and socialist instead of liberal, but not certain.
Drudge is a bit too gossipy for my take; I prefer reading blogs who DO read him, and choose the best/ most important/ most likely to be true.
I’ve become more conservative with children — but from a Libertarian base; calling myself a Libertarian Paternalist.
My Catholic wife and I agree about abortion, but disagree on legal drugs. We both want less drug use, and less murders — our values are similar. We disagree on how to get there. The Left, taking over the Dems, are usually hiding their values; often, even from themselves.
Comment by Tom Grey - Liberty Dad — 09.14.04 @ 5:24 am
What’s funny is as I read the TechCentralStation article linked here, I noticed several errors in the specifics of what we’ve learned about the memos (such as kerning, and Charles Johnson’s error that the superscript “th” looks different until you print it out). Looking up at the top of the page, we learn why: that article was published back on Friday - eight news cycles ago.
Comment by Chris — 09.14.04 @ 10:06 am
Old News
LaShawn links to Glenn Reynolds linking to LaShawn about Drudge. What’s funny is, as I read the TechCentralStation article, I noticed several errors in the specifics of what we’ve learned about the memos (such as kerning, and Charles Johnson’s error…
Trackback by The Black Republican — 09.14.04 @ 10:12 am
If you were a liberal in 1998 and such a neo con now, I’d like to hear the story of your conversion. I’ve never made such a dramatic change in outlook in my life!
KB
Comment by Kyle — 09.14.04 @ 10:50 am
Pamphleteer is right. Regardless of the technology there will always be those that hold power (yes, even just the little old power of opinion) that was to keep it from the huddled masses.
I’ve been waiting to see IP6 take hold and a clampdown attempt.
Comment by ken anthony — 09.14.04 @ 10:57 am
LaShawn, as to Dan Rather and the MSM. Confucius say “better to be a pajama blogger than an Emperor with no clothes!”
Comment by ratso ferrari — 09.14.04 @ 12:36 pm
Nice summary LaShawn. I enjoy your work.
Comment by Fr. Hans Jacobse — 09.14.04 @ 1:33 pm
For those who would like to forge their own documents, this version of MS Word offers ‘AssistantII’: (found at)
http://www.iownjoo.com/freeimghost/biffstert/forgeAssistant2.jpg
Comment by Jim R — 09.14.04 @ 4:00 pm
Submitted for Your Approval
First off… any spambots reading this should immediately go here, here, here, and here. Die spambots, die! And now… here are all the links submitted by members of the Watcher’s Council for this week’s vote. Council links:NP…
Trackback by Watcher of Weasels — 09.14.04 @ 11:42 pm
The Council Has Spoken!
First off… any spambots reading this should immediately go here, here, here, and here. Die spambots, die! And now… the winning entries in the Watcher’s Council vote for this week are NPR and Media Matters Can’t Tell Time b…
Trackback by Watcher of Weasels — 09.17.04 @ 12:28 am
Carnival of the Bush Bloggers 28
The Carnival of the Bush Bloggers: September 20, 2004 Edition
Trackback by Blogs for Bush — 09.20.04 @ 4:13 pm