Originally Posted By Darkbeer <a href="http://www.drudgereport.com/flash3mh.htm" target="_blank">http://www.drudgereport.com/fl ash3mh.htm</a> >>ABCNEWS, WASH POST REPORTERS: 'DRUDGE RULES OUR WORLD' Here they come... In the stampede of books attempting to make their mark this season comes THE WAY TO WIN, by longtime political reporters Mark Halperin and John Harris. The political director of ABCNEWS and the national politics editor of the WASHINGTON POST make it official in their new insider tome on DC politics and how it's played: The four words in every newsroom and campaign headquarters are: Have you seen DRUDGE? MORE In an extended 15-page homage to the glories of this site, they report: "Matt Drudge is the gatekepper... he is the Walter Cronkite of his era." "In the fragmented, remote-control, click-on-this, did you hear? political media world in which we live, revered Uncle Walter has been replaced by odd nephew Matt." Halperin and Harris write "Matt Drudge rules our world." They say, "With the exception of the ASSOCIATED PRESS, there is no outlet other than the DRUDGE REPORT whose dispatches instantly can command the attention and energies of the most established newspapers and television newscasts." Page after page... "Matt Drudge counts as one of the most important entrepreneurs of his era..." Paragraph after paragraph... "One of the biggest success stories of his generation...." Halperin and Harris explain: "So many media elites check the DRUDGE REPORT consistently that a reporter is aware his bosses, his competitors, his sources, his friends on Wall Street, lobbyists, White House officials, congressional aides, cousins, and everyone who is anyone has seen it, too."<<
Originally Posted By DlandJB IMO, Matt Drudge is the Walter Winchell of this generation. Even his fedora fits the role.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan LOL! I was just about to make the Walter Winchell comparison, DlandJB!
Originally Posted By jonvn Matt Drudge is a moron. Has always been a moron, and will continue to be a moron. Ugh.
Originally Posted By DlandJB Matt doesn't actually write more than a couple of words. His site is a clearing center for other people's thoughts. Kind of like our friend here who started this thread (and sorry for the unfortunate placement of this, because I don't believe the original poster is a moron) but all he does is place the news that someone else has written and go. Anyone can do that. At least Walter Winchell wrote his own stories.
Originally Posted By DlandJB I will give him credit (Drudge) for solid self promotion. I will often look at his web page to see what he's playing with ("Developing....") but then I also wander over to Lucianne.com too. The posters there make even the most rabid reactionaries here look like baby kittens.
Originally Posted By Darkbeer <a href="http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003221716" target="_blank">http://www.editorandpublisher. com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003221716</a> FYI, Len Downie is the editor of the Washington Post >>Reporters love newsroom blogs, said Downie, because they put writers in better touch with their readers: "Everyone in our newsroom wants to be a blogger." And the blogs that pick apart every article that the Post produces are a good thing, said Downie, because they "keep the paper honest" and, even if their commentary isn't positive, bring people to the site. "Blogs are not competitors and not problems," he said. "Instead we have a very interesting symbiotic relationship. Our largest driver of traffic is Matt Drudge."<<
Originally Posted By DlandJB I don't dispute that at all. I look at Drudge every day to see what is in the news, then I'll look at the "real" news. But that is what he does best. Most of his "breaking stories" are not his own, but things he gets from others.
Originally Posted By Darkbeer But what did Walter Cronkite do? He had a staff that gathered news from many sources, such as AP, UPI, etc. prepared and wrote copy, and then Walter Cronkite shared the information with the nation.... The CBS evening news is done a few times in a three hour period, so some info could get updated, and a few "Breaking News" reports. On the other hand, you can see the Drudge Report 24/7, and at your convenience, not at 6:30 PM Monday thru Friday (as an example)...
Originally Posted By DlandDug >>But what did Walter Cronkite do?<< Edited and delivered a daily news broadcast that was seen by millions of people, for nearly twenty years, after 25 years as a reporter and correspondent. Cronkite was not just ubiquitous-- he was trusted. The CBS Evening News, in its heyday, didn't depend on the "AP, UPI etc." for its content. They developed stories, and often led other news gathering organizations to them. Drudge is simply a canny clearinghouse for the work of others. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's an absurd stretch to even compare him to Cronkite.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder "Drudge is simply a canny clearinghouse for the work of others. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's an absurd stretch to even compare him to Cronkite." Heartily seconded.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder "But what did Walter Cronkite do?" When were you born? Did you ever see Cronkite? Read his autobiography? Know his history? If you could answer yes to questions 2, 3 or 4, you'd realize the absolute absurdity of the thread title.
Originally Posted By DlandJB >>But what did Walter Cronkite do?<< WALTER CRONKITE. Born in St. Joseph, Missouri, U.S.A., 4 November 1916. Attended University of Texas, 1933-35. Married: Mary Elizabeth Maxwell, 1940; three children. Newswriter and editor, Scripps-Howard, also for United Press, Houston, Texas; Kansas City, Missouri; Dallas, Austin, and El Paso, Texas; and New York City; United Press war correspondent, 1942-45, foreign correspondent, reopening bureaus in Amsterdam, Brussels; chief correspondent, Nuremberg war crimes trials, bureau manager, Moscow, 1946-48, manager and contributor, 1948-49, CBS-News correspondent, 1950-81, special correspondent, since 1981; managing editor, CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, 1962-81. Honorary degrees: American International College; Harvard University; LL.D., Rollins College, Bucknell University, Syracuse University; L.H.D., Ohio State University. Member: Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (president, national academy, New York chapter, 1959, Governor's Award, 1979); Association Radio News Analysts. Recipient: several Emmy Awards; Peabody Awards, 1962 and 1981; William A. White Award for journalistic merit, 1969; George Polk Journalism Award, 1971; Gold Medal, International Radio and Television Society, 1974; Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award in Broadcast Journalism, 1978 and 1981; Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1981. More... <a href="http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/cronkitewal/cronkitewal.htm" target="_blank">http://www.museum.tv/archives/ etv/C/htmlC/cronkitewal/cronkitewal.htm</a>
Originally Posted By JeffG >> "The CBS evening news is done a few times in a three hour period, so some info could get updated, and a few "Breaking News" reports. On the other hand, you can see the Drudge Report 24/7, and at your convenience, not at 6:30 PM Monday thru Friday (as an example)..." << I think this explains very well why Matt Drudge is not in Walter Cronkite's league or even why another Cronkite probably isn't really all that likely in today's media. With the very limited time available to Cronkite and his team, they really did have to focus on the news that actually mattered. Certainly, if they were to interrupt other programming for "breaking news", that news really had to be something of monumental importance. The immense trust that Cronkite had was largely built on a combination of experience, common sense, and common decency that led to an ability to appropriately prioritize what the public needed to know over sensationalism that may be interesting, but not really important. With organizations that are dedicated to delivering "news" 24/7 while trying to top all the other organizations trying to do the same, we have seen a monumental shift towards the sensational. Attention given to stories is based much more on their "sizzle" factor than on how much the story might really actually matter. Drudge really has built most of his success and celebrity around his ability to find dramatic stories and present them in the most sensationalist manner possible. "Breaking news" today is often more about celebrities, sex scandals, or dramatic crime than it is about true emergencies (or triumphs, such as Cronkite's legendary coverage of the moon landing) of national significance. While major stories like 9/11 or Katrina do still get the attention they deserved, it sometimes feels like even those stories ultimately get a bit overwhelmed by all the noise. -Jeff
