Matt Drudge
Matt Drudge (born October 27, 1966) is an Internet journalist and muckraker.
Drudge's web site, Drudge Report, founded in 1994, consists primarily of links to stories about politics, entertainment, and various current events, although Drudge occasionally authors a story of his own. He has cultivated the persona of a fedora-wearing newshound working for the people, not the powers-that-be. Drudge started his website on a 486 computer from an apartment in Hollywood, California. Today, Drudge maintains the website from his condominium in Miami, Florida along with his longtime friend and associate Andrew Breitbart based in Los Angeles. Drudge has assimilated numerous connections with industry and media insiders to break stories sometimes before they hit the mainstream media. In many ways, Drudge fashions himself as a modern-day Walter Winchell.
Drudge first received national attention in 1996 when he broke the news that Jack Kemp would be Republican Bob Dole's running mate in the 1996 presidential election. In 1998, Drudge again made national waves when he broke the news that Newsweek magazine had information on an inappropriate relationship between "a White House intern" and President Bill Clinton (the Monica Lewinsky scandal), but was withholding publication. After Drudge's report, Newsweek published the story.
Drudge has various critics in the media. Some critics note that Drudge's contribution to journalism is questionable, as the only stories he actually breaks were completely conceived, researched, and written by other reporters. A federal judge noted in a judgment on a slander lawsuit, which ended in Drudge's favor, that Drudge is not a "reporter, news gatherer or journalist". Drudge's most famous achievement, the breaking of the Monica Lewinsky story, offended editors because by publishing details of the story, Drudge essentially made an editorial decision that overrode Newsweek's. Drudge's politics are unabashedly conservative, and he often selects as the lead story of his website articles that promote the anti-abortion stance, praise prominent conservatives, or criticize prominent liberals.
When his site reached the 1 billion viewer mark for 2002 alone, Drudge posted to the front page of his website, "In every state and nearly every civilized nation in the developed world, readers know where to go for action and reaction of news -- at least one day ahead... Free from any corporate concerns, there are simply too many to thank since the site's inception in 1994. This new attempt at the old American experiment of full freedom in reporting is ever exciting. Those in power have everything to lose by individuals who march to their own rules."
Drudge also hosts a weekly Sunday night talk radio show—"The only time anyone will let me on the air," he claims. Drudge hosted a short-lived television show on the Fox News Channel starting in June 1998. He also wrote a book in 2000 titled Drudge Manifesto (Hardcover ISBN 0451201507, Paperback ISBN 0451204913).
An investigation by Business 2.0 magazine estimated that Drudge's website pulled in $3,500 a day in advertising revenues. Combined with his radio show and subtracting his minor server costs, the magazine estimated that Drudge pulls in $800,000 a year with his simple website.
An article in The Miami Herald yielded more information about Drudge. From his Miami Beach condo, he monitors television news and several websites on three computers in his home office. By his own estimate, he pulls in $1.2 million a year from his website and radio show. Before founding his website, Drudge worked in the gift shop of CBS television, where he was apparently privy to some inside gossip, part of the inspiration for founding the Drudge Report.
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