Gawker: Matt Drudge

Could Creepy Kids Singing Video Bring Down Obama?

Moe — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:25:48 EDT

Drudge just linked to this video with the headline "Obama Kids Sing for Dear Leader." See how many seconds it takes you to throw up lunch! Produced by something called Sing For Change, it depicts a group of 5-12-year-olds singing a song about their favorite presidential candidate. "Light, hope, courage and love shine through these non-voting children who believe that their very best contribution to the Obama campaign is to sing," reads the website. After the jump, their North Korean counterparts — they are several inches shorter than their South Korean counterparts, you know — sing for their leader, and I rant briefly about What It Means.

The thought that an actual Obama supporter would round up a few dozen kids in the name of producing such nauseating vacuous reverse propaganda is too depressing, so let's just assume this is the diabolical work of some NRA-funded 527. But if it is not, it's a powerful statement as to the thing that has been so disappointing about this campaign: if Obama doesn't seem to be trying hard enough to seize the moment, make sense of the recent history that precipitated this particular economic situation and articulate a vision for the nation's future that actually changes minds — this may seem unnecessary for the purpose of winning, but as we just learned it's absolutely necessary for the purpose of getting anything done in Washington — it's because he doesn't have to. People want to believe he will save us from all that ails us because they are so stupid they lack even the faintest notion of what it means to be able to speak and vote and freely upload their inane videos to YouTube. And yeah, sure, screw those people; let them find jobs on some PetroChina rig in the Sudan, what do I care.

Matt Drudge Still Controls the Information Age

Pareene — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:37:01 EDT

What month is it... July? It's been weeks since someone wrote a story about how Matt Drudge is the King of All Information! Thanks, Washington Post political blogger Chris Cillizza, for stepping up to the plate. The populace must be periodically reminded that all the news they receive comes from a reclusive weather-obsessed weirdo in Florida, lest they get uppity. So this week The Original Blogger is responsible for that Jesse Jackson "cut Obama's nuts off" story that the kids are so into. Because yesterday evening he, uh... hyped the fact that it would be appearing on Fox later that night, after Sean Hannity announced it on the radio hours earlier and as Jackson himself released his apology to the wires. Follow? Matt Drudge is responsible for this story that was already everywhere by the time he picked it up. Of course, we're just being cynical—he's still ridiculously over-influential! But WHY?

First and foremost, is the depth — and the quality — of Drudge's readership. Drudge's number of unique visitors is regularly touted but what is more important, in terms of his ability to drives news cycles, is that every reporter and editor who covers politics is checking the site multiple times a day.

Phil Singer, former deputy communications director for Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign and now a Democratic consultant, called Drudge's "elite readership" a key to his influence. Singer added that a walk through any press filing center at a debate reveals every other laptop, at least, has Drudge's website up on its screen.

In other words, Drudge is still massively influential because all the reporters and editors who cal him influential still assume he's influential, so they refresh him every 20 seconds. See how that works? That's called "gatekeeping."

The funny thing is that if all of these people magically decided to switch their homepages to, say, the Huffington Post or Yahoo News (or maybe just a well-curated RSS feed!) tomorrow, the tenor of your "news" would change immeasurably but you would not be any less informed!

But everyone appointed Matt our "national political assignment editor" (to quote GOP op Kevin Madden) back in 1996 or something and they're all too lazy to find a different website. Even though Matt has definitely fallen off of late! He barely touched Reverend Wright at all, for instance, and that certainly didn't stop that story from dominating for two weeks.

Still, we love and admire the man, because nobody does anything like this better:
See, the stock market is collapsing. So here is a bear eating a fruit salad.

Gay Stripper Recalls Matt Drudge's Love For Chaka Khan

Hamilton Nolan — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:11:50 EDT

Craig Seymour is a college professor who was living a boring little life in Washington, DC when he said, quote, "Fuck it" and became a gay stripper. And now he wrote a book about the whole thing, as strippers who are also writers are wont to do. And you'll never guess who Seymour's good "cool ass white boy" pal was back in the day. That's right, internet politigossipmonger Matt Drudge! Who loves nothing better than soap operas and Chaka Khan remixes:

The NY Press apparently procured and read Seymour's actual book—the only excerpt we can find online talks exclusively about him walking around with his dick out in a strip club. But the Press has the Drudge-y highlights:

According to Seymour: "Matthew and I were primarily obsessed with two things: music and The The Young and the Restless. That's all we talked about as we walked around D.C. late at night or drove out to the Maryland suburbs where his mother worked behind the counter at 7-Eleven."...
After Seymour gets thrown out of his NYC apartment, he loses touch with Matthew until he receives a letter in the mail. It deserves to be excerpted in full from Seymour's chapter:

"'If this letter gets to you somewhere in this burning world,' he opened, 'I have a feeling you can still relate.' For five densely marked pages, Matthew revisited all of our favorite topics of conversation, telling me how he was awaiting a new Frankie Knuckles remix of Chaka Khan's 'Ain't Nobody,' going through a love/hate relationship with Whitney Houston's 'One Moment in Time,' and incensed over the direction of The Young and the Restless.

('That show suffered so much during the writers' strike—will it ever rebound?') Later, he stated: 'Writing this letter to you makes me happy. Whatever happened to us? I miss talking to you, but somehow I know what you're thinking or want to convince myself that I know.'

At the end of the letter, he wrote: '213 area code soon. Call me.'"

Seymour never heard anything further from Matthew, until, years later, when he was flipping through Vanity Fair and happened upon a photo of his long-forgotten friend. He'd transformed himself into Internet pundit Matt Drudge.

Nilla.

[NY Press]

Warholization Of Drudge's Terrifying Hillary Montage

Ryan Tate — Thu, 08 May 2008 20:03:27 EDT

Animal New York ran Matt Drudge's montage of horrifying Hillary Clinton pics through something called the Warhol Art Maker, and the result is the glorious piece of art above. Not bad, eh? Or at least, you know, something that won't haunt your nightmares for eternity, which is an improvement. Even Obama supporters might like to frame and hang this, assuming Clinton drops out as the punditocracy near-unanimously says she will soon do, to fondly remember the good old days. [Animal]

Drudge Unloads Collection Of Horrifying Clinton Photos

Ryan Tate — Wed, 07 May 2008 20:55:22 EDT

Internet gossip Matt Drudge parted with his precious, carefully-assembled hoard of scary Hillary Clinton photos in the clearest indication yet that It Is Definitely Over for the Democratic presidential candidate. Drudge gleefully culls these pics from magazines and newspapers every morning and keeps them in a scrapbook under his bed. But he knows they'll be worthless soon so he's rushed them onto the internet, probably while crying bitter tears of loss. A bunch of talking heads said last night that Clinton was done for, and even more say so in the Drudge-linked clip after the jump.

Hillary Is Done, Say Media Overlords

Ryan Tate — Wed, 07 May 2008 01:56:58 EDT

Hey, look, Matt Drudge did something nice for the entire country: He ended the Democratic primary, even though it was supposed to continue until eternity. See the picture and headline at left, which ran atop Drudge Report tonight. Drudge's link went to a video of Meet The Press anchor Tim Russert calmly explaining to America that "we now know who the Democratic nominee is going to be" and that Hillary Clinton is probably about to quit (she cancelled her TV appearances and everything!). Then David Gergen, the Bill Clinton aide turned talking head, said on CNN the election is over, partly because Chelsea looked sad during Hillary's last speech. "You could see the anguish on her face," Gergen said. "I think the Clinton people know the game is almost up." Remaining voters, politely thank your media overlords for deciding the election on your behalf. Clips of Russert and Gergen, and a bigger pic of the Drudge page, after the jump.

Ungrateful English Demand Apology From Eccentric American Blogger

Pareene — Fri, 02 May 2008 12:56:46 EDT

Earlier this year, Matt Drudge saved the life of Prince Harry, the UK's adorable ginger-haired lunkheaded Nazi ruler. Harry, you see, had been deployed to Afghanistan, where there are lots of people who'd like to blow him up. But Drudge revealed the deployment, breaking a media embargo, and then they were forced to send Harry back home, where he's more or less safe. For some reason this enrages the English. So the Mayor of Windsor and Maidenhead, whose name is probably spelled "Higginbobotham" but pronounced "Higgins", has demanded an apology from Drudge. The apology is probably not forthcoming. [UPI]

Drudge Buddy Burned In Another Recent LA Times Error

Ryan Tate — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:48:34 EDT

Just before falsely accusing people of conspiring to murder a rapper, the Los Angeles Times burned a close colleague of internet publisher Matt Drudge in another, less egregious instance of slipshod journalism. In February, the paper ran a story about private-school-to-the-stars Crossroads, and allowed the schoolmaster to say a book co-authored by Andrew Breitbart, Drudge's West Coast partner-in-blogging, was partly fabricated. The paper never bothered to get reaction from Breitbart or his co-author. Woops. Finally published earlier this month, this is not the sort of correction you want to have to run about a blogger with massive amounts of traffic at his command and who you're probably seeking links from on a regular basis:

Crossroads School: A Feb. 19 story about Crossroads School head Roger Weaver stepping down included a comment from Weaver that the book “Hollywood, Interrupted: Insanity Chic in Babylon — The Case Against Celebrity” — which includes allegations of student sex- and drug-fueled scandals at Crossroads — was filled with fabrications. The article should have included comment as well from Mark C. Ebner, one of the book’s authors, who denies that the book contains fabrications. The Times regrets the error.

[Regret the Error]

Catholics Are Outnumbered

ian spiegelman — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 13:23:10 EDT

Internet news person Matt Drudge takes the Vatican's announcement today that there are now more Muslims on earth than Catholics as an opportunity to, well, do what he does. Look at the scary Muslim. He's coming to get you! But there's still hope, Christians.

"Monsignor Vittorio Formenti, who compiled the Vatican's newly-released 2008 yearbook of statistics, said Muslims made up 19.2 percent of the world's population and Catholics 17.4 percent. 'For the first time in history we are no longer at the top: the Muslims have overtaken us,' Formenti told Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano in an interview, saying the data referred to 2006. He said that if all Christian groups were considered, including Orthodox churches, Anglicans and Protestants, then Christians made up 33 percent of the world's population—or about 2 billion people." [Reuters via Drudge]

How America Saved Prince Harry's Life

rebecca — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 12:44:12 EST

Army man Prince Harry has left Afghanistan following Matt Drudge's release of his whereabouts. The British military has decided it was too risky for the spare Prince to stay there with his location known. Predictably, the British blame the American media for our general boorishness.

The British kept the story quiet for ten weeks. The blackout was limited to his military duties, and the press agreed to the keep the story quiet as long as they could continue to write about his other hobbies, like dressing up as a Nazi at costume parties.

American louts, however, are unsatisfied with just drunk pictures of Prince Harry. Chief of the general staff of the army was "very disappointed" with Matt Drudge. "This is in stark contrast to the highly responsible attitude that the whole of the U.K. print and broadcast media." The British are so uptight.

First off, the British press were given special access to the prince in return for the silence. But they probably would have remained silent anyway. The Guardian explains their decision to maintain the blackout with a pat on their back: "It was an extraordinary and rare display of unity for national and regional newspaper and magazine editors and broadcasters not to report the story." An extraordinary display of acting like pussies you mean.

When American media outlets are guilty of this sort of behavior, it's generally either isolated cases of one paper caving to pressure—like the New York Times holding their warrant-less wiretapping expose until after the 2004 elections—or about matters of less newsworthiness. The entire U.S. media did conspire to leave Chelsea Clinton alone during her stint as first daughter, but they certainly would've reported if she'd enlisted and gone to Iraq.

British tabloids are usually much more ruthless than American ones. But ultimately the British really do care about the royals. There's no ironic distance there. And between an asshole in fedora and believing in the Divine Rights of Kings, Matt Drudge wins any day.

"Harry Withdrawn From Afghanistan" [NYT]
"Why We Agreed To A Media Blackout On Harry" [Guardian]

"We Are All Matt Drudge Now"

Pareene — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 11:05:31 EST

Professional doom-sayer and enjoyably shrill press critic Bob Somerby says he's been at this whole "internet political writing" thing since 1997 and he's kinda distressed that not only hasn't nutty original blogger Matt Drudge gone away, but he still holds sway over campaign narratives! Which he sorta does, though we'd argue not to the extent that he used to, but it is amusing to see all the liberal bloggers taking him so seriously after spending so many cycles trying to discredit and marginalize him. It's sad but true: when Drudge types, we listen. How else to explain the media's non-stop coverage of adorable kitties and killer robots bent on the destruction of humanity? [DailyHowler]

Obama-in-Dress Photo Backfires on Clinton

Pareene — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 11:21:06 EST

A photo of Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama wearing sort of an apron-looking thing and a funny turban? A Hillary Clinton staffer asks (according to Drudge): "Wouldn't we be seeing this on the cover of every magazine if it were HRC?" Uh, sure. Sure we would. The photo, from 2006, shows Obama "fitted as a Somali Elder, during his visit to Wajir, a rural area in northeastern Kenya." It was sent around by Clinton's press office (once again, according to Drudge) this weekend, in an apparent attempt to prove that the Illinois Senator is a Muslim terrorist who wears a dress. Mischievous Matt Drudge gave the story an amusing anti-Clinton spin. Because his relationship with her is complicated.

Back when Hillary was inevitable and unstoppable, Mr. Drudge seemed rather pleased. "I need Hillary Clinton. I need to be part of her world. That's my bank," he famously announced. Clinton's camp, perhaps not sufficiently wary of the man who nearly took down her husband, reached out by appointing former DNCer Tracy Sefl their unofficial Drudge emissary.

But Drudge, who enjoys being convinced of his importance, dislikes being portrayed as manipulatable. Shortly after the New York Times brought the world the story of how Matt and Hil are sitting in a tree, the Drudge Report reverted back to its traditional "merciless smearing of that Clinton harridan" mode, with the photos of Hil becoming even more grotesque and unflattering than ever before, the most pointless anti-Clinton stories suddenly getting major play, and the treatment of Obama remaining surprisingly even-handed.

Which, perhaps, explains this story, the clearest proof yet that if Clinton's campaign hasn't yet removed Ms. Sefl from the Drudge beat, they really ought to. Drudge, handed a hilarious photo of a Democratic politician, one that he could play as proof that this politician was un-American or too "different" or "foreign" to be president (a media narrative portions of the Right have been trying to push as Obama surges), turns it into a story of Hillary Clinton's inept and straw-grasping team. He even includes a cute little "EDITOR'S NOTE" explaining that "other leaders have worn local costumes," which he follows with hilarious pictures of Hillary, G.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton looking like ponces in wacky clothes. Amazing.

Update/Clarification: Ms. Sefl has denied being involved in sending the picture to Drudge. And we believe her! Because, rly, she's too smart for this kind of foolishness.

[DRUDGE REPORT]

Hillary Brings Nation To Brink of Excitement, Insists She'll Go All The Way

Pareene — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 15:33:00 EST

Hill's Drudge envoy: still earning every dime of that paycheck. [Crooks and Liars]

The Dangerous Nut Vote: Where Hillary Stands

Pareene — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:41:37 EST

As Super Tuesday drags to a middle, it's worthwhile to look at the rising and occasionally falling fortunes of New York Senator Hillary Clinton, our next, cryingest president, among our nation's most unfortunately influential lunatic opinion-makers.

This week, she maybe lost Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch, whose many media holdings mercilessly attacked the Clinton family during their last stay in the White House, warmed to the senator once her accumulation of magnate-assisting power began in earnest. Murdoch and the Clintons were suddenly buds! The New York Post actually endorsed her! But things fell apart, according to the New York Times' David Carr. Rupert, who loves anyone in a position to do him favors, may be upset that Hillary's hasn't wrapped up this whole presidency thing yet. (As Rush & Molloy point out, Murdoch donated the maximum allowed amount to Hill six months back.)

Now, though, Hillary has bucked her own party and agreed to a debate held by Murdoch's GOP-tilting Fox News. Last year, liberal activists convinced Dem candidates to boycott two Fox-sponsored debates. But it's 2008, this whole election thing is actually for serious, and a February 11 debate in Washington DC would be a nice opportunity to reach Maryland voters. And make Rupert love her again!

Hill's relationship with ORIGINAL BLOGGER Matt Drudge is even weirder, if that's possible to imagine. Because Drudge needs her. He feeds off of her. Her hideously MSPainted pixilated weepy eye sat at the top of his page all day. He updates when she coughs during an interview. And he seems sadly uninspired by every other candidate in the race. Whether or not Hill's campaign has a special Drudge envoy, they needn't ever worry that he'll ignore them.

The intentions of one last insane internet creation, though, are a bit easier to read. P*r*z H*lt*n endorsed Hillary Clinton!!!

"As we have previously stated," Mario Lavandeira explains, "Hillary wasn't our fist choice." Of course not, Mario. Of course not.

Siren.gif

Pareene — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 17:10:45 EST

Related: Sources: George Clooney Looking Good [The Onion]

Call Matt Drudge, The Sky Is Falling In NYC

Maggie — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:21:56 EST

Is anyone else disturbed by the fact that it's thundering and lightning in New York City in the middle of January? Since Matt Drudge's weather link real estate is currently devoted to something about snow falling in Baghdad for the first time in a century, we thought we'd volunteer some headlines to blow this climatological phenomenon wildly out of perspective:

Or, you know, we could just recycle his.

Who Actually Reads The Drudge Report?

Choire — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 09:30:29 EST

Yesterday I was having lunch with a pal who was schooling me on the real business of the web—did you know some people are really making a killing on the internet? I did know that, but only like, as a concept—and we wondered: Who reads Drudge? Who keeps it such a monster traffic site? So! Variety columnist Brian Lowry writes about what happens when you get a link on Drudge (everyone writes in to say they hope you get cancer you liberal for fellating Tim Robbins). That column—which isn't handled very well, he's way too snippy and classist, but hey—gets linked on Drudge! The comments from Drudge readers include: "You're fat"; "And remember when you are celebrating the Holidays JESUS is the reason for the season"; "Your a supposed journalist....take the heat for the dung you write and shut it!"; "You sure are fat"; "Why do jews always and I mean ALWAYS call people they disagree with anti-semitic? Its getting old already ok sons of abraham"; "I hope you get HIV and die from AIDS at one of your Hollywood butt plugging homo orgies"; "Most of us have jobs and families, instead of life 'partners,' granola, and burkenstocks."

Drudge is linking this morning to Time's ...

Maggie — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 11:00:36 EST

Drudge is linking this morning to Time's 'Person of the Year' prelude, in which Brian Williams, Aretha Franklin and Stephen King put forth their noms. His headline, for a column that appeared five days ago, about a month-old story, reads "NBC News Anchor Brian Williams Picks 'Mother Earth' For Time 'Person Of Year.'" Matt, this is not like you, come come now. Perhaps you have simply worn yourself out silly on all the crazy-ass weather we've been having lately? Previously: 'Time' Person Of The Year: Might Be Less Sucky Than Last Year?

Drudge, King Of Internet, Sleeps Alone

Pareene — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:50:47 EST

Notoriously media-shy internet person Matt Drudge flew over to England to appear on News Corp's SkyNews (sans hat!). And in a rare TV interview, he slobbered all over Rupert Murdoch's newspapers and talked about how his unchanged-since-1997 news clearinghouse is the future of information dispersal. The interviewer did ask him an unexpected question about just who shares Matt's bed, but he declined to answer.

The Man Behind the Drudge Report Revaled [SkyNews via Soup Cans]

Matt Drudge: Scared of Women?

Pareene — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:30:33 EDT

The Clinton/Drudge power-partnership remains strong! Watch out, Obama!
Earlier: Hatted Miami Weirdo Wields Great Media Power and Hill's Money Chinese, Drudge Play Joke.

Hatted Miami Weirdo Wields Great Media Power

Pareene — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 17:55:44 EDT

Even though he's never quite been able to match the profound national mindfuck he laid down when he went live with Monica Lewinsky a couple minutes before everyone else, Matt Drudge's bizarre story sense and predilections still drive the larger political media narrative. Except for his weird weather obsession. But when he puts a semi-comprehensible political headline in 72-pt. font, people take note. The fact that he's a weirdo Crypto-Liberti-Publican has always been something of a problem for the liberals who used to control the media, but now, finally, they have a candidate craven enough to play Matt's game: Hillary Clinton!

While Drudge still gleefully links to every anti-Hillary story he can find (dirty Chinese money, people!!), he acknowledges that she's hugely entertaining and good for business. So Hill's using former DNC official Tracy Sefl to reach out to Matt and get him to occasionally push stuff that doesn't necessarily make Hillary look like the whore of Babylon. Like when they preempted Obama's Iraq speech with Hill's leaked fundraising numbers! She's rich and inevitable, enjoying giving your cute little war talk, hope boy.

The cutest part of this Times story is how John McCain was planning on "sending an emissary to Miami to build their own relationship with him" but Drudge never answered their emails. And no one wants to talk on the record about him because then he might stop linking to them!

As of right now, Drudge is leading with TERROR and WEATHER TERROR, always two of his favorite subjects, but he did find a way to connect the California wildfires to the Clinton campaign, with the typically charming headline, "As Fires Rage, Rob Reiner Sings For Clinton..." (the fires were "raging" some miles away from Reiner's Malibu home, but don't let that get in the way of a nice Nero image). So, uh, still kinda negative! The story about how all the Republicans were trashing her during their sad "debate" is basically about as neutral as Matt gets. Inconclusive!

Also! We briefly chatted with Ms. Sefl, who didn't cooperate with the Times piece and didn't have much to say to us either, even though we've been drunk with her. She did agree that it would be a good idea to try to figure out the magic Drudge-gaming formula and then maybe sell this formula to our boss Nick Denton for a couple million and retire from blogging or having to read about Matt Drudge ever again. It's a good idea!

Clinton Finds Way to Play Along With Drudge [NYT]

It looks like the New York Observer has somehow ...

Choire — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 09:50:03 EDT

It looks like the New York Observer has somehow yet to find a web host who can withstand a link from Matt Drudge. They're sort of like the goth girl of newspaper websites—when they get any attention they're all, "Oh my God don't look at me I'm so ugly!" Annnd crash. So while their politics desk continues to regularly get stories on the monster uber-crazy-blogger's website (today's apparently is "NY DEMS BAFFLED BY RUDY LEAD: 'I refuse to believe this could happen to our country'... "), their back-office continues to undermine their work. I bet that is really annoying!

Howard Kurtz's Dan Rather Scoop? Published Two Years Ago

Maggie — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 19:07:28 EDT

We've been checking out Washington Post media columnist Howard Kurtz's new book, "Reality Show: Inside the Last Great Television News War," an advance excerpt of which was posted Sunday with great hubbub on Drudge. That excerpt recounts a discussion between Dan Rather and '60 Minutes' executive producer Josh Howard that took place on the eve of the airing of the controversial piece that would end Rather's career at the network. Kurtz's story was treated as big news—but the substance, and some of the language as well, was no different from New York Press editor-in-chief David Blum's 2004 book, "Tick... Tick... Tick..: The Long Life and Turbulent Times of 60 Minutes."

The meat of the Drudge-worthy news from Kurtz was that Rather said he'd take his items to the Times. But Blum had published that in his book:Kurtz writes, "The night before the story was tentatively scheduled to air, Rather was sitting at the anchor desk, with less than half an hour before the start of the Evening News."

"I'm told that the Rather leak threat was in the paperback edition of David Blum's book, which I never saw," Howie Kurtz told us by email. "(I did look at the hardcover.) Good for him for getting there first. I never saw it picked up anywhere, so when I got the information in an interview with former 60 Minutes II producer Josh Howard, it was the first I'd heard of it. I'm a fanatic about giving credit, which is why my book is filled with footnotes, but you can't do that if you've never seen the information."

Blum's version, which appeared in book's 2005 afterword, goes like this: "On Tuesday, September 7, 2004, Rather was sitting at the anchor desk in Studio 47, minutes away from the start of that night's CBS Evening News. But instead of poring over that night's copy one more time, he reached for the phone to call Howard."

Rather's discussion with Howard was over prime-time promotion of the piece. Both Kurtz and Blum write that Howard told Rather the piece might not even run, considering it hadn't been vetted by CBS lawyers, nor had a call been made to the White House for contact.

Kurtz writes, "That was not the answer Rather wanted to hear."

Blum's own follow-up sentence, written three years previous? "This wasn't what Rather wanted to hear."

The Kurtz excerpt, from Drudge Report:

The Blum excerpt:

Disclosure: I worked with David Blum at the 'Village Voice.'

Anyone who thinks that the age of subtlety ...

abalk — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 09:20:54 EDT

Anyone who thinks that the age of subtlety has ended is clearly unfamiliar with the work of Matt Drudge. [Drudge Report]

Internet journalist Matt Drudge is quitting ...

abalk — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 10:00:29 EDT

Internet journalist Matt Drudge is quitting his radio show "to focus on his website and other endeavors." [Cincinnati Enquirer]

Toe-Tapping G.O.P. Senator Busted For Gayery

abalk — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 15:20:11 EDT

By now you'll have heard all about Larry Craig, the Republican senator from Idaho. He:

pleaded guilty earlier this month to misdemeanor disorderly-conduct charges stemming from his June arrest by an undercover police officer in a men's restroom at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

We think it's kind of adorable that the gays are still cruising the toilets in flyover country, and, for whatever reason, Matt Drudge is also equally amused by the story. These are some of the captions he picked for various reports. We would have gone the other way. (Hahaha, get it?)

IdaMO
Grabbin' the Gavel
Tom, Dick, and Larry
Oh whatever, like you could do better. Oh, right, you could! Have at it.

Drudge Report

'New York' Loves Matt Drudge And Men Who Don't Love Them Back

Choire — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 12:40:27 EDT

Phil Weiss crops up in today's New York mag with a write-around profile of king of all media Matt Drudge, who could not be found anywhere. (It does contain pretty much everything you might need to know about Matt, except where he is and if he's gay or not and why there might be Spanish overheard at what might or might not be his house.) This is becoming something of a trend at New York. In the hopper over there, that we know of, there are forthcoming stories on former Times reporter Kurt Eichenwald, a story sort-of-maybe about our boss Nick Denton, and a story about New York Observer owner and Jersey boy-king Jared Kushner; each subject is, when we last heard, variously barely or sort-of not-at-all participating. Do Adam Moss and his band of boys just crave rejection? Is there a self-help book for this?

Watching Matt Drudge [NY; alternate online headline: "Stalking Matt Drudge"]

Matt Drudge's Greatest Captioning Moment

Choire — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 17:20:13 EDT

Wow. We bow to the master of the internets. Oooooo girl, consider us retired.

Matt Drudge Was Poked By Mitt Romney

Choire — Mon, 14 May 2007 09:54:45 EDT

We are all tools of the 2008 campaigns' opposition research punks. (Yay! Gawker will so do your laundry, bring it on!) Also, Matt Drudge Hearts Mitt Romney. (Mini-Mitt Guide: Likes abortions, loves death penalties, no longer supports the gay marriages.) [Salon]

More shock jocks fired! CBS radio just won't stand for any more of your casual entertainment racism. What will America do? [NYDN]

Someone made poor Katie Couric talk to the Times' TV-Biz jerkface Bill Carter for some damage control about her rotten ratings. How long will she seek the guidance of Matthew Hiltzik? [NYT]

Matt Drudge's Perfect Storm

abalk2 — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:42:46 EDT

Barbra Streisand, Hillary Clinton, and a beard! We're sure Matt is creaming his screen in Miami right now.

Drudge Report

Matt Drudge Shocked That Multiracial Candidate May Have Diverse Genetic Background

abalk2 — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:42:11 EDT

You know, in addition to being BLACK.

Drudge Report
Earlier: Matt Drudge Cannot Hide His Deep Knowledge Of African-American Culture

Suze Orman Shocks World, Is Lesbian

Choire — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 17:20:46 EST

We resisted for hours! Despite the hundreds of emails. Despite Matt Drudge just begging us to take note of this juxtaposition. But we wanted to have dignity! We wanted to be better than this. Now it's a little after 5 p.m. and our blood sugar is fucked and it got funnier, in that juvenile, armpit-fart-noises way. Thank you, Mr. Drudge. Also, short-haired O columnist and CNBC and QVC commentator and all-around money-lady Suze Orman is a lesbian. Could you die or what?

'NYT' Sunday Preview [E&P]

Matt Drudge Cannot Hide His Deep Knowledge Of African-American Culture

abalk2 — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 13:20:24 EST

Get it? Because Barack Obama is a black man. Black. Also, Hillary is "waiting to exhale" after Obama's big declaration. Maybe she just needs to get back to her "roots" before Democratic voters give her the "shaft." We bet she wishes Obama was an "invisible man," because he seems much more "beloved" by the press.

Drudge Report

Drudge Weather Report: Hot and Bothered

Emily Gould — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 09:10:00 EST

We can't put our finger on the reason this headline has us oddly titillated. Wait, we're working from home, so we can. Oooh.

Drudge Report

JoeJournalist.com: Could One Of These Men Be JoeJournalist? Yeah, Maybe.

abalk2 — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 17:40:51 EST

This morning we asked you to help us identify the mystery journalist who had the effrontery to start his own website in the early days of the Internet. While the general consensus remains fixated on Andrew Sullivan, there are a few other ideas out there. We present them after the jump.

"Perhaps Joe Journalist was Tom Wolfe? Would fit the description. TomWolfe.com was created July 20, 1998. Gladwell's site went up in September of 2004, BTW."
"Reeks of Brit Hume. He was a computer geek before most of the world knew what a computer geek was. But don't quote me on that!"
"I'd always assumed that stupid Kinsley column was referencing Josh—excuse Joshua Micah Marshall's—excruciatingly self-infatuated blog"
Isn't it Adam Nagourney?
"Wouldn't it be Matt Drudge?" [No. —ed.]
"It's definitely Andy Glass."
We'd actually be inclined to buy that last one, assuming we knew who the fuck Andy Glass is. Thanks for playing. More on this stunning story if it ever develops.

Earlier: JoeJournalist.com: World's Most Boring Guessing Game Continues

Media Bubble: Private Parts

abalk2 — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 09:10:46 EST

Guy who told Murdoch to buy MySpace quits. [Guardian]
Private equity firms love them some media conglomerates. Latest example: ClearChannel, the company that has spent the last decade making sure radio sucks, which was snapped up for a kajillion dollars yesterday. [NYT]
Energetic new media entrepreneur out at AOL. [Valleywag]
WSJ employees will not be allowed to wear shorts no matter how much they piss and moan about it. [NYP]
Those who aren't getting fired by NBC are leaving voluntarily. [NYT]
Marketwatch rewrites Jack Shafer's Digg story a scant five months later. [Marketwatch]
Dave Zinczenko, whose name will forever be associated with subpar oral sex, rides the Borat wave. [NYP]
The English: "paedophiles, drunkards and hooligans." Sorry, this is news to whom? [Guardian]
Why can't the Times be fun like the Drudge Report? If you guessed Jon Friedman, you read this feature way too often. [Marketwatch]

Matt Drudge Sympathizes With Conflicted Voter

abalk2 — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 16:20:52 EST

But the other third of him cannot get enough.

Drudge Report

Media Bubble: Felix, Bob, Matt, and Judy

abalk2 — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 09:30:50 EDT

• Felix Dennis will never see a broad as costly as a tree. Also, it takes a lot of dosh to get people drunk enough to listen to your doggerel. [Radar]
• On the other hand, anyone who calls Greg Gutfeld "Darth Vader," must have his finger on some kind of pulse. And, look forward to The Week on the web. [Independent UK]
• Judy McGrath is going to be just fine, thank you very much. Buying MySpace is not the be all and end all of running a media empire. Unless, uh, you're Tom Freston. [NYT]
• ABC News reports news that ABC Newsman considers Matt Drudge the Walter Cronkite of our era, excepting for that fact that Walter Cronkite never falsely accused a presidential aide of wife-beating. [ABC News]
• Bob Woodward saves the good stuff for himself and other newspapers who are willing to buy his book in advance of their sell-dates. [NYT]
• Yahoo! not sexy enough for investors, apparently. [NYP]
• Something is happening to press freedom in Canada. We'd be all up in arms if it weren't, you know, Canada. [NYT]

'Variety' Trying To Get Into the Matt Drudge Business

abalk2 — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 15:00:45 EDT

Geffen, DIC ready to get Party started [Variety]

Earlier: Now Matt Drudge Just Mocking Us

Now Matt Drudge Just Mocking Us

abalk2 — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:39:30 EDT

Drudge Report