drudge blog

This morning Drudge has 2 main headlines that have been there since last night - “main” meaning the large font leading headline. It’s unusual to see that. Usually he highlights just one story at a time, and while it changes through the day, there’s normally only one. I have a couple of quick thoughts on why this might be. First, it’s Sunday and he doesn’t do much updating on the site until the evening to ramp up for his Sunday night radio show. So 2 headlines might keep the site more interesting today while he doesn’t do much updating. Second, obviously the 2 headlines are somewhat related - “Terror Level Unchanged” and “No Specific Election Threats.” Last, it’s probably a relatively slow news day with many stories of about equal value. Drudge does keep his site interesting sometimes even when the news cycle may not be that interesting or new.

Here’s a link to a snapshot of the Drudge Report this morning, showing what I rambled about above. I’ll be using DrudgeReportArchives.com links like this a lot, as you can use the timeline to find snapshots of the Drudge Report. With the constant updating that Drudge does, it’s really great to be able to go back and see the updates frozen in time.

Drudge popped up his infamous siren graphic a couple of days ago, as he had and exclusive on ABCNews holding onto an al Qaeda threat video and possibly timing its release around the election. Hadn’t seen it much for a while. I think the siren speaks volumes about the Drudge Report. First off, what other news source would have such a bold, cheesy graphic like this? It pretty much represents what Matt Drudge does: Breaking headlines, in-your-face, published faster than most other media outlets could possibly do it. I can’t think of a more appropriate attention-getting graphic than the siren to yell out “exclusive breaking news” to the online world. Except maybe a strobe light or one of those seriously annoying, flashing “you just won our contest” banners… I like the siren myself.

The other issue about the siren is that it’s so damn crappy looking. It’s the same pixelated one I can remember going back as long as I’ve been following the Drudge Report. But here’s one thing I find really interesting about Drudge. He sticks with what works like no one else I’ve seen on the internet. His site has been basically the same design since the site’s inception. Matt Drudge talked about his site design for a minute on his radio program last Sunday night. He briefly addressed the issue of why he hadn’t really changed his Drudge Report site design in 9 years. He literally said “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” I guess I wouldn’t argue with the kind of overwhelming success he’s had. Call it stubbornness, practicality or just extreme confidence. The internet is nothing if not constant change. The irony is that his site is one of the most constantly updated on the internet, but the site itself doesn’t really change at all.

So there you go. As long as Drudge is successful and confident, I’m sure we’ll see that siren for a while to come.

I find the Drudge Report fascinating.

Matt Drudge and his Drudge Report have had a major impact on media, newsgathering, politics and the internet as a whole. I think there are many reasons why the Drudge Report is very intellectually stimulating and unique. This goes way beyond just his politics or the news that he posts. What I’ve found to be missing out there is any detailed analysis or discussion of what goes on each day on the Drudge Report. Sure, some bloggers discuss it on occasion, but it’s usually focused only on the news stories themselves - not as much the unique way that the story came to be, or what happened before or after, or how it relates to a story Drudge ran previously.

I thought it would be fun to take on a blog that’s focused on the day to day happenings and analysis of the Drudge Report. I do have to make a shameless plug for my site DrudgeForum.com, a great partner site for Drudge Blog. If you want a place discuss the Drudge Report and anything related and meet other Drudge fans or critics, take a visit to the site. I’ve talked about some Drudge topics on my forum, but haven’t really gone into the detail that I wanted. I’d like to be able to write in a longer format, more like “articles” with follow-ups, continuity and ongoing analysis. I think many Drudge fans are very busy or want to remain anonymous or even on the sidelines, so a forum may not be best for some. Let’s face it, the Drudge Report is probably a “dirty” little addiction for many people. You just have to look at it every day, but you may not want to tell anyone. That’s just the kind of thing I want to talk about here!