In the vast marketplace of ideas, there’s Drudge . . . and everybody else

While as a liberal, I do not suggest the following with a great deal of pleasure, but Matt Drudge is by far the single most influential person in the American media, and it is fair to ask: Is he the second most influential man in America?

Matt Drudge.
Matt Drudge.

For more than any individual in the media, Drudge dominates his competitors to the degree that he has no competitors, and determines what you watch on television, what you read in newspapers, what you hear and radio, and even what you read on the Internet about politics more than any single person in American history.

MSNBC may claim it is liberal and Fox News may be the house organ for conservatives, but if you turn on either in the morning, you will often see the guiding hand of Drudge. The New York Times may consider itself the finest newspaper in the world, but while one of the Times’ political reporters is reduced to writing ditties complaining that Hillary Clinton does not answer her questions, one entry on the Drudge Report can trigger 100 questions to any politician in America. Network anchors come and go, but Drudge remains, the omnipresent force who is required reading for political editors, television producers and campaign managers from all parties. …

One of the great mysteries of modern life is that the highest Democrats in the land complain about Drudge, read Drudge like talmudic scholars poring over biblical texts — as Republicans do — but have never even tried to compete with Drudge in the marketplace of media and ideas.

SEE COMPLETE TEXT

You must be logged in to post a comment Login