5 1/2 days a week
I’m sure it’s stating the obvious to regular Drudge readers, but the Drudge Report is mostly a 5 1/2 day a week operation. I write this on a Saturday as I’ve looked at the snoozer of a Drudge Report today. Unless there’s big breaking news on the weekend, there just aren’t many Drudge Report updates. Often, Friday’s stories will linger into Saturday and there are just a few obligatory posts just to keep the site active. If the site’s updated at 100% on weekdays, I’d say it’s usually at 10% on weekends. I say 5 1/2 days a week because leading into Matt Drudge’s Sunday night radio show he heats up the site with lots of updates late in the day Sunday. As well as the in-your-face promo for his radio show…
Now, I certainly don’t blame Drudge for taking it easy on the weekend. He stays plenty busy the rest of the week, where he does nearly 24 hours-a-day posting even on not-so-big news days. The weekend is slow for news sites and networks all over on the weekend. But, I’m sure as Drudge’s critics would chime in, he’s supposed to be a legitimate news operation so he shouldn’t take the weekend “off.” I’ve personally seen him be pretty slow on the draw on the weekend, even when the big stories break. The question of whether he’s a major, “legitimate” news source is for another discussion.
by Lance - 6:22 pm
November 8th, 2004 at 9:35 am
You make an interesting point, but Drudge Report cons are also the pros. At least when he IS updating the site, we get real, compelling news - not slow-news-day silliness for its own sake.
The boon with Drudge is that he doesn’t have to conform to the rules of what a “legitimate” news operation is. If he let himself into the trap of when he “had” to be on, he’d burn out and quit and we wouldn’t have the site at all (or it would suck). If he added staff, it would complicate the operation he wants to have and run. I think the reason he succeeded so wildly is that he found something he loved to do, did it long before he knew he’d make money, and kept logistics as simple as possible. I think he’s got the right idea here. Let go of any public expectations.
Besides, it’s a free site. He doesn’t owe us anything.
November 8th, 2004 at 10:55 am
Whoops, I forgot my most important point!
Drudge is a “citizen reporter” as he likes to say, or, at least, he’s a free agent. There’s always going to be a distinction between Drudge and Newsweek, always different levels of journalism (even if he did what he did without being controversial.) It’s the nature of the animal. News sources comprised of 1 or 2 people can’t be 24/7; that will always be their limitation and perhaps with advantages I tried to mention before.
November 8th, 2004 at 9:34 pm
Great points. The great thing about discussing Matt Drudge is that there are always different angles. He’s anything but black & white. The catch with the Drudge Report is that it’s got Matt Drudge’s personality in it. He can’t really have someone back him up too much or we’d notice the change. That being said, I don’t blame him for needing his own time on the weekends. I like getting the questions out there and start the discussion on some of these topics.