Why Joe Klein is a disagrace…
So Joe Klein, blogging for Time, writes a blog titled “Why Drudge is a disagrace”. For those who don’t know, he’s referring to Matt Drudge and the Drudgereport, talking about how Drudge is shameless and misleading in the headlines he posts. In particular, he was taking offense at a photo and headline showing a “three-quarters crazed Hillary” and words implying that her plan would require proof of insurance to get a job. Hillary, in her defense, never said that exactly, but only alluded to it.
Amusingly, Drudge then posted a link to Klein’s blog entry under the Hillary story, … which has problably driven up traffic to Klein’s blog by an order of magnitude. That’s the love-hate relationship that many in the mainstream media have with Drudge. They may not like his politics or his style, but they love it when they get an article posted on his site.
Readers of the Drudge Report, like myself, know that we are getting news and commentary posted on the site from a variety of different sources, many of which I would never have heard of or read without first seeing them on site. Matt Drudge is a conservative by reputation, yes, but his site, as for as I can tell, is completely bipartisan in who it posts dirt on. If it’s newsworthy, it makes the site. This is also means that readers get a well-rounded view of things that are not just filtered by the mainstream media. I have found that stories that I read or Drudge precedes the same story on CNN.com’s front page by over a day!
Those on the Left hate Drudge because he doesn’t hesitate to post stories undermining their incredibly narrow-minded, socialistic worldview. By staying in the bounds of traditional media and left-wing blogs, they never have to face the uncomfortable possibility that they’re wrong. Those on the far-right might be equally narrow-minded and stubborn, but then again, those people have to pretty much shut themselves off from the outside world in order to not have their positions challenged.
In any case, if Matt Drudge wants to post a few “misleading” and sensationalized headlines, so bit it. He’s not doing anything different than any other journalist who shows their bias and sensationalistic writing in subtle and not-so-subtle ways.
