Integrity Legal

In what could only be described as a “tip of the hat” from one news service to another the New York Times, that often venerated institution of American news, was recently noted for lauding the efforts of that bastion of alternative media The Drudge Report. To quote directly from a truly insightful article posted on the official website of the New York Times, NYTimes.com:

The Drudge Report, a 14-year-old site — a relic by Web standards — conceived and operated by Matt Drudge. Using data from the Nielsen Company to examine the top 21 news sites on the Web, the report suggests that Mr. Drudge, once thought of as a hothouse flower of the Lewinsky scandal, is now more powerful in driving news than the half-billion folks on Facebook. (According to the study, Facebook accounted for 3.3 percent of the referrals to news sites, less than half as many as generated by The Drudge Report.)

Readers of this blog are strongly encouraged to click on the hyperlinks above to read this interesting and insightful article as written by David Carr.

It was interesting that within this article there was mention of an aspect of Mr. Drudge’s approach that has often been overlooked by so-called “mainstream” news organizations (it is interesting that Mr. Drudge’s site is considered “alternative” while the appellation “mainstream” is often given to websites with a great deal less actual readership, to define this irony through historical analysis, this is akin to the old “Bolshevik” and “Menshevik” designations within the Communist Party as it manifested itself in Russia immediately following her early 20th century revolution [not to say that said organization was either good or bad, but this analogy is brought up simply to note that often when gazing through the prism of politics there are times when labels can be less than genuine]).  To quote further:

Yes, Mr. Drudge is a conservative ideologue whose site also serves as a crib sheet for the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. But if you believe that his huge traffic numbers are a byproduct of an ideologically motivated readership, consider that 15 percent of the traffic at WashingtonPost.com, which is not exactly a hotbed of Tea Party foment, comes from The Drudge Report.

This blogger personally enjoys Mr. Drudge’s website, but, as when reading any information source, one must always be aware of the deliverer’s possible political biases. That stated, one of the reasons this blogger enjoys Mr. Drudge’s site is due to the fact that it appears as if Mr. Drudge truly tries to simply act as something of an unfiltered medium by simply linking to news through his site via headline or byline hyperlinks. However, there is more to his site than just basic coding. In short, Mr. Drudge’s website is a prime example of both the power of the alternative media and the “ghost in the machine” that is the human mind when it harnesses the power of the World Wide Web. Mr. Drudge’s site could be considered both a reflection of him in many ways and an example of the living art work that can be erected by an informed citizenry and an informed humanity. Truly, The Drudge Report is a beacon of light, a symbol of hope, and a prayer to reason because it symbolizes what one person can do when using ingenuity and entrepreneurialism when interacting with the public. The author William Duggan once noticed an ability he referred to as “Napoleon’s Glance” and it could be argued that Mr. Drudge possesses just such an ability when it comes to news. One may not agree with another’s politics, but sometimes the factual situation demands a transcendence of politics and therefore good “news men” are always in demand within a free society.

There was one final point within this article that was notable to this blogger:

And in the last 14 years, there have been no big redesigns, no big rollout of new features and no staffing up to provide original content. The initial site, designed to load quickly in the age of dial-up modems, remains relatively untouched. (As does Mr. Drudge’s penchant to stay under the radar. He did not respond to e-mails requesting an interview.)

A wiser man than this blogger once said: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Truly Mr. Drudge, from a solitary blogger to a solitary news man, thank you sir, and keep up the good work! We”ll keep checking, you keep posting.

For related information please see: alternative media.

Tags: Alternative Media, Drudge Report, Information, Information Age, Journalism, Mainstream Media, New York Times, News, Washington Post