For years, especially dating back to the Clinton years and Monica Lewinski fame twenty-five years ago, Matt Drudge put out a simple news aggregation website in simple Courier font that transformed political life more than any other news organization of its time. The Drudge Report was the first site that Washington pols and even news organizations went to, to get what amounted to the news agenda for the day. Drudge was even a kingmaker, being instrumental in getting Donald Trump elected.
Last year something changed. The slant on Trump skewed to the opposite end of the dial. As an aggregator, Drudge always planted a full range of news, left and right, along with a sizable quantity of tabloid trash, perhaps just for subterfuge, but his zinger so-to-speak was what he chose to place at the headline. One could argue that for twenty-five years, that headline was more dominant even than the New York Times, and that part more than any other showed his hand of influence over Washington if not the whole country. Drudge’s agenda was never hard right, but it was certainly conservative and maybe just a little anti-establishment. If the gauge was described as a quarter from the right side, in the fall of 2019, it slid to a quarter from the left as per the ever-important headline. Of course, both right and left stories were still carried but the volume subtly shifted over a period of several weeks in about November. Everyone wondered what was happening. Trump made a call. Drudge, an ever-elusive and secretive personality that stayed much hidden from the spotlight, would only comment in cryptic hints, that just because he helped elect Trump, that didn’t mean he was still advancing his causes.
Searches into what happened offer a few peripheral insights but again, still elusive. The Drudge Report of course still bears his name. As an aggregator, that’s the sole asset of the website enterprise. Wikipedia still lists Matt Drudge as the owner. I searched the answer to this question earlier this year and a principle of Google was insinuated as a new owner or part owner. That information does not appear to still be listed which would not be surprising if an executive of Google bought some interest in the company. Google is efficient in scrubbing information that its leadership wants to keep hidden.
Over the last six months, there are occasional days where the original Drudge seems to be evident, but most days, the agenda, evidenced by the choice of stories, headlines, and the all-important top banner and image seems to yell deep disappointment and resentment to the conservative cause. The Drudge Report as we knew it is dead. What happened?
Everything else I propose here is speculation based on common patterns that occur in other power struggles. Why not find out the facts? Even when Drudge held friendly, even essential relationship to other conservative personalities, he kept his cards close to his chest and he was solely responsible for the key story bomb shells that rocked the news world, meaning, it was never a collaborative effort. What made him tick? Mostly a mystery. The far fewer words over the past six months were vague. I propose they are also meant to deflect answers, not to address them. Facts? No one really knows.
Somebody named his price. That price could have been a reward, a potential punishment or a combination of both. It could have been the proverbial horse’s head in his bed or a billion dollars and island in the Caribbean. One thing is for sure, Google (and their friends) has the means to offer anything that he could have potentially wanted and a demonstrated interest in having what he had. What I don’t believe is that he woke up one morning, disillusioned with Trump and conservatism. He waded through shit up to his eyeballs to defend Trump up through last year. As scandal after scandal failed, ie ‘Russia-gate’, we can safely assume Drudge knew well before everyone else that the charges would be discredited. Do we see that affirmed now with the new version coming to light – Obama-gate? Hardly.
It’s sad, but at some point, everyone has a price. The flip of the Drudge Report is engineered to look like a conversion but it’s likely a deal of compromises; his name, his form, his mix and feel, compromising with a few conservative pieces to keep up the charade to his former base.
Where will this all lead? Today, running headlines of Covid doom and gloom from a dissatisfied NIH department head, in contrast to much favorable news relief elsewhere, Drudge, the new Drudge run by Google, is all-in on throwing an election, and then what? Bye-bye base. Rupert Murdoch got the low-down on what was happening and launched ‘Knews’, effectively taking Drudge’s place.
Matt Drudge, thanks for the memories.