Drudge, Fox May Be Facing a Parting

Matt Drudge’s days at Fox News Channel may be numbered.

The cable channel is weighing whether to fire the renegade Internet writer, who refused to do his Fox show, “Drudge,” on Saturday because executives wouldn’t let him show a picture that they called a “misrepresentation.”

The dispute, which Drudge calls “censorship,” comes as the 17-month-old show’s viewership has dropped dramatically, down 17% from a year ago and 33% from the beginning of 1999, according to a Fox executive. Fox had already had a conversation with Drudge several weeks ago about the declining numbers, and he had asked to be let out of his contract, but Fox refused, said Fox executives familiar with the situation.

Drudge counters that his show was the network’s top-rated weekend show the week before last. “This is a fight for my conscience. I’m just not going to let weak-kneed suits soften me,” he said.

The dispute began last Thursday (Drudge says Tuesday) when Drudge’s producer told John Moody, Fox’s vice president for news, that Drudge wanted to use a picture, taken from the National Enquirer (which got it from an Irish newspaper), of a fetus undergoing surgery to correct spina bifida. The problem, Moody said, was that Drudge wanted the picture to illustrate a discussion about partial-birth abortions, a term that critics use for a type of late-term abortion.

“It wasn’t a picture of a partial-birth abortion; it was a picture of a procedure that sought to save a fetus,” Moody said. He said he told Drudge he would consider using a picture, even a graphic one, that illustrated the actual procedure, but that Drudge wanted to stick with the National Enquirer picture. “I have nothing against showing what the procedure is. . . . It’s a matter of fidelity to the issue,” Moody said.

Drudge counters that he had planned to bill the photo, which he called the centerpiece of the planned show, as just what it was. “I was not going to depict it as a partial-birth abortion procedure, I made that very clear, I was going to identify it as a spina bifida operation, but say, look at this hand coming out. We’ve never seen a photo this graphic showing what life there is at 21 weeks.”

He said he then planned to tie it to the debate about whether the U.S. should pay its dues to the United Nations; the dues payments have been held up by congressional critics who don’t want the money used to fund abortion in other nations. “It was my opinion and I wasn’t able to comment, as others have been able to comment on this photo. . . . They’ve hired me to do just this, to offer opinions on hot news topics.”

The controversial Drudge emerged into the spotlight in January 1998 with the Monica Lewinsky scandal, breaking the story on his Web site that Newsweek was working on a report about the former White House intern’s relationship with President Clinton. He has been criticized for not always confirming stories before he runs them.

Drudge’s contract with Fox, which runs through February 2001, gives creative control of the show, which airs at 4 p.m. (Pacific Time) on Saturdays, to the network, a fact that Fox pointed out to Drudge in a letter that was going out to his lawyer Monday accusing him of being in breach of his contract. “I believe one of the conditions of being paid is to do the job,” Moody said. Asked whether Fox intended to fire Drudge, he said: “We haven’t decided that.”

“I feel they’re violating my 1st Amendment right to speak,” Drudge said. “I will send them a letter back.”

As for the contract, he says, “Do they have creative control over my mind? I need to check the small print.”