Coffee Tawk

Paglia and Maer Roshan (Radar magazine) interview Drudge. She's clearly a fan; Roshan, not so much:

Paglia: "You are a role model for young people who feel daunted by the corporate landscape?a model for what one shrewd, tech-savvy person can accomplish if he or she has balls."

Roshan (in a question that must now make him cringe): "Labels aside, doesn't your willingness to report inaccurate rumors separate the Drudge Report from, say, the New York Times?"

Comments

[Henry Kissinger as quoted by t]

I'm against the Drudge Report.

[KB]

Not cringe-worthy. Is it the considered opinion of this blog that The New York Times is a less valuable news source than Drudge? Really, truly? The Blair scandal and associated noise puts them on the same level, huh? OK now. And dont forget to take your meds...

[son volt]

As for Paglia: she believed that the Clintons had Vince Foster whacked (to her credit, the transcript of her Crossfire appearance where she attested to this belief is in, IIRC, Vamps & Tramps), such a mark is she for unsubstantiated gossip. No wonder she likes Drudge.

[Croesus]

Isn't Drudge mostly just a clearinghouse for weblinks he likes? I stopped reading him right before 2002 elections, when it became clear that he would post untruthful links just to profit his party of choice.

[Toucan Spam]

KB nailed it. Sure, it's been a blast blasting the New York Times these past few weeks, but come on. NYT versus Drudge in the credibility-accuracy-integrity game? It's not a contest.

The real problem with Roshan's question is that it's rooted in the faulty premise that Drudge and the Times are engaged in the same type of work. Apparently it's easy to forget that Drudge, like most bloggers, leeches off the reporting done by professionals. That doesn't mean he doesn't have a great nose for news -- he clearly knows what stories work. But he's not providing actual stories, as the New York Times does. He is a guy who reads the work done by others and then provides links to it.

Even the news he "breaks" is largely the work of others -- real journalists leaking their stuff to him, or having their stuff leaked by someone else in the newsroom.

[KB]

Exactly. Drudge does have a great tabloid sense. He would be a brilliant editor of a New York tab--his links are well chosen, and he has a theme that he works hard, often to fun, amusing, sometimes informative effect.

But this Times bashing has gotten so over the top. People on the right are losing perspective. As D-girls write in red pen across the pages of Hollywood treatments: OTT. Over the top.

[Toucan Spam]

And oh yeah: He always looks like an utter goofball with that hat. What a doofus.

(Let it be known that -- unlike KB, I suspect -- I'm aligned politically with Drudge much more than I am with the New York Times.)

[T. Hartin]

Lets not forget that Drudge made his name by forcing the establishment media to publish stories about Bill Clinton's affairs (and the rape) that the media were otherwise inclined to bury. He fielded rumors from media insiders about these stories, posted them on his website, and forced them into the open. For that, he deserves much credit.

Of course he isn't the NYT. But come on, he never pretended to be. What is offensive about the NYT is the way it tries to pass itself off as the Olympus of Truth, when it is really just a soft-left rag peddling the liberal pieties of the Upper West Side. Its comeuppance is long overdue, though it remains to be seen whether the NYT will be able to address the problems that have rightly made it a late-night laughingstock.

[Dean]

Thanks, Hartin, for mentioning the one thing Drudge reported on 5 years ago. About one a month or so, at most, he'll come across an interesting tidbit/rumor that will appear on his website. For the most part, he finds amusing links to stories from traditional news sources like the New York Times.

99 days out of 100, Drudge is a human version of news.google.com. On that 100th day, he'll come across an interesting tidbit of information from his sources which will normally appear in the newspapers the following day.

[Charles]

Am I the only person who didn't suspect Matt Drudge of being gay? JEEZ. Why didn't they just come out and ASK HIM?

[Sara]

KB, all I meant was that it's a bit of a laugh line in a way that it wasn't when he asked the question.

Obviously, Drudge and the NYT are serving completely different functions. It's almost pointless to compare them. The question of who has greater impact is interesting...but I'd still vote for the Times. Even on the sticky question of value I'd go for the Times - but that doesn't mean Drudge isn't doing something useful.

[KB]

I see the laugh line, and I didn't mean to harsh on your post. Roshan's timing was bad.

I'm as addicted to Drudge as anyone, by the way.

My broader point is about this sense out there now that since the Times got its comeupance, well then we no longer have to believe anything in its pages if we don't happen to agree with it. An anonymous quote out of the Bush White House? Jayson Blair! An unfavorable poll result? Jayson Blair! A Washington process story reflecting badly on the administration? Jayson Blair!

A certain amount of ridicule is in order. Normal healthy everyday skepticism certainly. But the summary dismissal of a great newspaper is just blinkered.

[Douglas Fletcher]

To hell with the New York Times.

From all the media hand-wringing I've seen about the NY Times crisis, journalists are about as stupid as Charlie Brown offered a football to kick. How many goddam lies does it take before you don't believe someone?

[CharlesWT]

Hmmm...I wonder what percentage of Drudge's hits is due to his web pages being set to refresh every four minutes?...

[Ira Weatheral]

I have to give this to Drudge:

I would never have heard of nor read Reason mag without his link. And many more on both sides of the political fence.

[joe]

Fyodor,

I agree. She's brilliant and insightful on the theory, not so much with the reality.

[Toucan Spam]

Great point, CharlesWT. Anytime I see numbers like "1.4 BILLION HITS LAST YEAR!!!!" I remember all those nights I've left my browser running overnight. I've given Drudge a few thousand hits just by stumbling to bed too tired to shut down my computer.

[fyodor]

son volt makes a good point. Years ago I had great respect for Paglia, but familiarity bred contempt in me for her. Maybe her fame got the better of her? When she's on, she's REALLY on and a quite beautiful revealer of truth. But for the most part she ends up trying to intellectualize flightiness and gossip and whatever catches her fancy at the moment. Yeah, no wonder she likes Drudge!

[Schinder Neal]

EMAIL: [e-mail]
IP: 62.213.67.122
URL: http://free-digital-photo.online-photo-print.com
DATE: 01/20/2004 11:26:36
'May you live all the days of your life.' - Swift