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Drudge Report Becomes Sludge Report
Matt Drudge’s media links compilation has been one of the sites I’ve checked every morning for the last decade. The Drudge Report always had links to sites with stories I would not see on my trusted sites. I say “had” because I am weaning myself from it due to the dramatic shift in bias I’ve observed, especially in the most recent months.
The Drudge Report has become part of the leftist media cabal slanting coverage to defeat President Trump.
There were dramatic revelations in the plot to get Trump this week–virtually ignored by The Drudge Report.
DOJ dismissed the charges against General Mike Flynn because of clear, unequivocal evidence of the FBI’s plot to entrap him by circumventing normal White House clearance procedures just four days after the inauguration. In his own testimony, James Comey bragged about sandbagging Flynn.
Obama DOJ and Intelligence apparatchiks swore to under oath before Schiff’s secret basement hearings that they had no evidence of “Russia collusion” by Trump’s campaign. Yet they claimed the opposite contemporaneously on national television. Clapper was the worst, calling President Trump a Russian asset controlled by Vladimir Putin.
The Drudge Report ignored or barely reported on these “bombshells.”
However, this morning’s Drudge Report has links to the following stories prominently displayed: 1.”Docs show top WH officials buried CDC report;” 2. “Trump’s 2020 Jobs Bet Unravels;” and 3. “Will he claim election fraud if he loses?”
I’ve read unconfirmed reports that Matt Drudge sold his Drudge Report in 2019, but I could not find any details. No matter. The current content of The Drudge Report is proof enough that someone who hates our President has acquired it.
Published in Politics
I stopped using it as my homepage several years ago, when they combined the automatic five minute reload with autoplay audio and video ads.
I too always went there first, because Drudge would have the best scoops on whatever we were following today.
But lately (the past year or so) it is pretty disappointing. I still hit that button out of habit, but a quick scan of his list of stuff reveals little to spark my interest: it’s the weird, the freakish (especially if it can make mid-Americans look like rubes), and the Trump hate.
Also, anything I DO happen to click on is so laden with pop-ups and go-no-further-without-paying windows that it has become almost as bad as NRO.
Took it out of my favorites about six months ago.
Haven’t looked at it in years. Yeah, something definitely happened…
It always leaned right in terms of story selection and emphasis – something that by itself can be extremely influential. What a platform decides to report and emphasize verses what goes unreported or de-emphasized.
For anyone who follows the full spectrum of the news, it’s pretty obvious.
It deprived the right of a homepage portal into the ‘news’ but it becomes redundant for lefties. They have many other outlets.
I wonder what happened to Matt Drudge. He may have been threatened or blackmailed or duped or bribed into selling it. There’s a reason we don’t know the answer. That’s for sure.
Subscribe to Ben Domenech’s news feed. It’s $25 per year and worth it.
I still use it, but in a different way than I used to. Now, it’s a way to read the headlines the MSM thinks are important. Unfortunately, Fox is going in that direction, too.
I stopped looking at the Drudge Report when he was talking about the rash on Bill Clinton’s gentlemen’s vegetables.
Did you see this: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/the-federalist-publishers-tweet-was-illegal-labor-board-judge
It really is unbelievable how much it’s changed. It started a year or so ago but in the last few months it’s gone totally left. It’s hard to believe Drudge is still in charge. Unless he’s had some kind of reverse Damascus Road experience. It’s not just critical of some aspects of the administration, but totally left wing in all respects.
It’s all about clicks, right? If the Drudge Report has completely alienated its former base, there would be data to support that–causing whoever is running it to reassess any ideological shift. This may be reflected in ideology, but one has to think that somehow it’s about $$$, or at least an attempt at more $$$.
Cable News, comedy, comic books, movies, television, commercial ads… over and over you’ve seen them alienate half, if not more, of their audience promoting political positions. It’s not about the $$$.
We’ll agree to disagree.
The options seem to be either Drudge:
1.) Moved left;
2.) Sold the site, but with a non-disclosure agreement about the sale;
3.) Was so into immigration and the border wall that he had an Ann Coulter moment, and turned against Trump because he thought Trump had sold out the anti-immigration right.
I like #2, but, being a hard-headed sort, would add that someone decided there was profit (clicks) in moving left regarding the selected articles, or at least testing that theory.
That article specifically, no, but I knew about it because of his response in the newsletter.
I could see someone who buys into the idea that people on the right are simply robotic followers of conservative media people, and can be swayed easily by those people. Rush Limbaugh said for years that’s what the left thought about his listeners, so it wouldn’t be a shock if someone with a dislike for Trump believed they could buy Drudge’s site, and as long as people still thought Drudge was running it, could move the content selection to the left and those following the Drudge Report would simply move left as well.
(My own preference is for No. 3, because as has been amply shown over the past five years, Trump stirs up insane amounts of passion in people, especially those who prior to his arrival saw themselves as key parts/trendsetters of the GOP base. Drudge’s sudden hatred of Trump wouldn’t be for the same reasons as, say, Bill Kristol’s hatred of Trump, but the passion would be on the same level.)
I can’t remember the last time I gave SludgeReport a click.
3.) Was so into immigration and the border wall that he had an Ann Coulter moment, and turned against Trump because he thought Trump had sold out the anti-immigration right.
I agree 100% about Ann Coulter. She used to be one of my favorite pundits, but she has gone crazy in the last two years. Wish I knew why.
I’m no big fan of Trump’s, but I saw the same thing at Drudge that others here have, and stopped going there. It’s biased.
Coulter thinks that immigration is the #1 issue. She’s probably right about this. The Dems have been very unsuccessful in selling their program to the American people, so their long-term strategy has been to bring in a new population more supportive of their agenda. Coulter thought that Trump would set this to rights, and he has not. She is frustrated, and I think understandably so.
Here’s an interview of Coulter on the Eric Metaxas show that makes the point, if you want the details.
Coulter even said she would vote for a socialist as long as they were strong on the border…the way Sanders seemed to be in 2015-16. He sounded almost like any conservative on border issues. (I guess that means he was a national socialist?)
Ditto.
I’m 100% with you on this story. I also check Drudge along with 2 or 3 other news sites as I start my day. I also liked some of the headline links to stories that are not in the MSM. However, the sludge continues. I made a vow to stop clicking on Drudge and yet….I went back to it. No more. I am officially boycotting The Drudge Report from here on out.
This seems to have some idea.
https://www.cjr.org/politics/drudge-report-trump.php
If I had to guess, Drudge just lost grip with reality.
He might have split with Trump over the wall, like Anne Coulter, but at least AC didnt go pro left over it. It seems Drudge has. I think hes lost it.
I still look at the Drudge Report. Some of the stuff is interesting, and I like to know the background behind the thoughts of those that disagree with me.
Ann Coulter thinks she’s very influential and therefore tries to push right-leaning politicians. First she gushes over them, then, if they don’t satisfy her all her demands, punishes them. This might be a reason she’s never married. I never take her too seriously. But she’s very smart and witty.
That gave no information. Just a story filled with speculation that the change was over the wall or lack thereof. Included was a dig at Michael Savage calling him a white supremesist. No big fan of Savage myself but that’s quite a charge to throw around casually.
I can’t believe it’s simply about the wall in either case. Both Coulter and Drudge are too politically savvy to become such single-issue advocates discarding other consequences. As I said Ann is just threatening to be disaffected because she thinks it will help (acceptable as a strategy) but Drudge wants to bring him down entirely. So if it’s because of a “wall”, it doesn’t make sense because any Democrat would be far. far worse. And worse for everything else he advocated for.
Drudge either sold with a non-disclosure agreement for a lot of cash, or he was leaned on to sell and forced to keep mum.
The way Drudge harped on the door-knocking by the reporter smacks of someone who isn’t completely mentally healthy, imo.
Drudge.com is the Left’s response to Drudgereport.com.
They often look about the same these days.
Michael,
This would explain so much if true. It’s fine for Drudge to sell if the offer was big enough. However, not letting anybody in on the change in editorial control is not right. He may have signed a non-disclosure agreement. I don’t care but it really isn’t right that his audience is being thrown to the dogs.
Regards,
Jim