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The liberal group Media Matters for America tracked the echo of Drudge's report through the pro-war blogosphere, where the reporter was variously called "a blatant advocate of defeat," "unfit to cover the war" and "a shill for terrorists."
Ware insisted on the air that he did not heckle, mock or laugh at McCain. He said he did not even ask a question — a position supported by CNN video clips. Still, Drudge did not retract or clarify his single-sourced account. Nor did most of his admiring bloggers, though several did later express skepticism. Said one: "I wonder if Drudge got 'April fooled.' "
Even when accuracy is not an issue, some journalists remain concerned about Drudge's influence.
Mackenzie Warren, who oversees the News-Press website in Fort Myers, Fla., says the Drudge Report gave unwarranted national bounce to a day-old story that the paper determined was barely newsworthy.
The wire-service piece reported on a Florida legislator's efforts to ban the use of the word "alien" by state agencies when describing undocumented immigrants. The Drudge Report brought a burst of readers to news-press.com with a link that said: "Bill Would Mandate Nicer Term for Illegals." The problem, according to Warren, was that the legislation had no chance of becoming law.
"It was an outrage story even though there was nothing to be outraged about," Warren says. Drudge "was able to bend and shape the meaning of the story to meet his needs."
In the past, Warren says, he would plot ways to lobby Drudge, who dislikes self-promotion from link seekers. So Warren pitched stories through a fake e-mail address.
"I'd say, 'Great story down there in Florida.' Then I'd throw in some incendiary adjective, and next thing you know our story would be at the top of his site and our traffic would be on fire."
But Warren says he's no longer secretly seeking Drudge's attention. Among other things, links from Drudge skew readership numbers — up one day, down the next — making it difficult to determine ad rates, Warren and his counterparts in smaller markets say. Their advertisers want local readers, not the national audience Drudge delivers, which is more attractive to bigger news sites.
"You're always flattered when you get linked, but from a business and community standpoint, it doesn't help," says Barry Cooper, online managing editor for Pilot Online in Hampton Roads, Va.
No one, of course, can predict with confidence whether Drudge will thrive as a gatekeeper in the years ahead, as the New York Times' Rich can attest. In a 1999 column, he opined that Drudge would soon become irrelevant.
Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, says Drudge undeniably has come to play an important role in the consumption and distribution of news, especially when the story is big.
In a study of the online medium's election-night performance in November, Rosenstiel says his group found that Drudge quickly sent his audience to the best destinations. "He had figured out in real time what we figured out more conclusively in hindsight," Rosenstiel says.
When the balance of the Senate came down to the race in Virginia, for example, Drudge linked to the secretary of state's office for updated tallies. The resulting flood of visitors crashed the government site.
Still, Rosenstiel says, "Drudge is vulnerable because he's not producing anything. He's just got muscle through his links to the work of others."
One day, he says, news organizations are going to say, "We're not going to give this stuff away to Drudge. We need to get some source of revenue to subsidize the creation of the content."
Although Drudge has spent years taking aim at the mainstream media, Rosenstiel says, the truth is he needs their links for his livelihood.
"The dirty little secret about Drudge," Rosenstiel says, "is that he's a gateway for conventional journalism."
joel.sappell@latimes.com
Ware insisted on the air that he did not heckle, mock or laugh at McCain. He said he did not even ask a question — a position supported by CNN video clips. Still, Drudge did not retract or clarify his single-sourced account. Nor did most of his admiring bloggers, though several did later express skepticism. Said one: "I wonder if Drudge got 'April fooled.' "
Even when accuracy is not an issue, some journalists remain concerned about Drudge's influence.
Mackenzie Warren, who oversees the News-Press website in Fort Myers, Fla., says the Drudge Report gave unwarranted national bounce to a day-old story that the paper determined was barely newsworthy.
The wire-service piece reported on a Florida legislator's efforts to ban the use of the word "alien" by state agencies when describing undocumented immigrants. The Drudge Report brought a burst of readers to news-press.com with a link that said: "Bill Would Mandate Nicer Term for Illegals." The problem, according to Warren, was that the legislation had no chance of becoming law.
"It was an outrage story even though there was nothing to be outraged about," Warren says. Drudge "was able to bend and shape the meaning of the story to meet his needs."
In the past, Warren says, he would plot ways to lobby Drudge, who dislikes self-promotion from link seekers. So Warren pitched stories through a fake e-mail address.
"I'd say, 'Great story down there in Florida.' Then I'd throw in some incendiary adjective, and next thing you know our story would be at the top of his site and our traffic would be on fire."
But Warren says he's no longer secretly seeking Drudge's attention. Among other things, links from Drudge skew readership numbers — up one day, down the next — making it difficult to determine ad rates, Warren and his counterparts in smaller markets say. Their advertisers want local readers, not the national audience Drudge delivers, which is more attractive to bigger news sites.
"You're always flattered when you get linked, but from a business and community standpoint, it doesn't help," says Barry Cooper, online managing editor for Pilot Online in Hampton Roads, Va.
No one, of course, can predict with confidence whether Drudge will thrive as a gatekeeper in the years ahead, as the New York Times' Rich can attest. In a 1999 column, he opined that Drudge would soon become irrelevant.
Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, says Drudge undeniably has come to play an important role in the consumption and distribution of news, especially when the story is big.
In a study of the online medium's election-night performance in November, Rosenstiel says his group found that Drudge quickly sent his audience to the best destinations. "He had figured out in real time what we figured out more conclusively in hindsight," Rosenstiel says.
When the balance of the Senate came down to the race in Virginia, for example, Drudge linked to the secretary of state's office for updated tallies. The resulting flood of visitors crashed the government site.
Still, Rosenstiel says, "Drudge is vulnerable because he's not producing anything. He's just got muscle through his links to the work of others."
One day, he says, news organizations are going to say, "We're not going to give this stuff away to Drudge. We need to get some source of revenue to subsidize the creation of the content."
Although Drudge has spent years taking aim at the mainstream media, Rosenstiel says, the truth is he needs their links for his livelihood.
"The dirty little secret about Drudge," Rosenstiel says, "is that he's a gateway for conventional journalism."
joel.sappell@latimes.com
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