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DRUDGE REPORT - DANGEROUS & DASTARDLY
TvNewsLies - 08-Jan-2004
As the Bush/PNAC administration continues its methodic dismantling of the Constitution, world peace, the middle class and the environment, the American broadcast news industry has misrepresented reality and distracted us from the truth. We are overstating the obvious.
Fortunately, the Internet has provided the public with a means to access the information that our broadcast news industry and the Bush/PNAC administration tries its best to prevent the public from accessing.
Alternative news web sites such as this one (TvNewsLies.org), Buzzflash.com and Whatreallyhappened.com have proven to be invaluable to truth- seekers by becoming one stop shops for news and information that is being withheld from the public by our broadcast news industry. BUT THE INTERNET HAS A FLIP SIDE!!!
That brings us to Drudgereport.com. Matt Drudge’s one-page web site is a sparse collection of headlines and photographs, linked to source articles. Thanks to a stained blue dress belonging to Monica Lewinsky, the Drudge Report loomed into prominence a few years ago, and strangely continues to be one of the most active sites on the entire Internet, constantly rated in the top 250. Considering that there are 35 million registered domains, that is pretty impressive. It is also shows how powerful a site like that can be as a tool for spreading ideas and information to millions of people every day!
When a web site has an audience of that magnitude, it is in a very powerful position to manipulate public opinion. People often turn to Drudgreport.com for new with shock value. Drudge, who made his name via his total immersion in to the Bill Clinton sex scandal, is still considered an early source of soon-to-be major news. However, what they find more often than not, are sensational stories that have either no impact on the world (e.g. the latest celebrity scandal), or headlines carefully calculated to manipulate the reader’s perspective of the news. Yet, they continue to come to the site in droves!
This places Matt Drudge a very influential position. If the man is determined to create a negative view of someone, he will use dramatic, boldfaced, large headlines that link to every critical story ever written about that person. He can cleverly do the opposite to promote the virtues of others in the public eye. Technically, Matt Drudge has every right to do this, but there has to be awareness that the results can be dramatic and dangerous. When Matt Drudge decides to assault reality with misleading, yet potentially damaging articles, he reaches an enormous audience. On the other hand if he chooses to ignore an issue of vital information, that in itself discredits the story in the eyes of the millions who long on daily to “see what Drudge has on it!�
Case in point: A January 7th 2004 report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace showed that the Bush/PNAC administration "systematically misrepresented" the threat from Iraq's weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to war (link). This story should easily be the number one headline and it should dominate every news report in the nation. Five minutes after the hour on the 10AM (EST) CNN broadcast, Scott Peterson remained the vital story of the day. THERE WAS NO MENTION OF THE CARNEGIE REPORT! Not a single mention, but no big surprise. Many of us have learned to rely on the Internet for more important information. So, what did Drudge fans find as the most important headline of the hour? Here it is: IN SHIFT, DEAN STARTS WATCHING HIS WORDS; POLLS TIGHTEN ! Earth shattering news for the populace!
What about the rest of the page? (Appropriately, the ad banner at the top of the site was for the Top Gun George W. Bush action figure.) Some Drudge sub headlines include:
Dean Says Christian Faith Guided Him to Back Gay Unions. NOONAN: The Dean Disappointment - I want to like him. I really do NEW VIDEO UNCOVERED: MOVEON.ORG FINALIST IS PRODUCER OF ANOTHER BUSH/HITLER AD...
What amazes us NOT the irrelevant nature of “news� on the Drudge Report, and the man’s obvious pro Bush/PNAC tone. What amazes us is that millions of people regularly turn to this site for SOMETHING THAT IS NOT THERE! There is a blatant and intentional omission of vital news that casts any poor light on the administration or its action, and ultimately there is little more than a sensationalized Drudge distortion of reality. The resulting impact on public opinion is inescapable, and the Drudge Report must be given a prominent place on the list of “news� sources that mold public opinion through misinformation and selective reporting.
Distractions, distortions and deception are being force fed to the American public on a daily basis by our news media and people like Matt Drudge. Through his popular web site, this man is in a great position to shed the mantle of sleaze he assumed during the Clinton years. His massive audience has given him a responsibility to provide millions of people with the truth. But, true to form, he has chosen to shill for the Bush/PNAC administration and play the propaganda game. He remains dangerous and dastardly to his readers and to the nation.
Drudging up rumors on Kerry: A new low in skuldrudgery - Matt Drudge got his start going through the garbage outside movie studios looking for tidbits for his Hollywood gossip site. - He then went political when clever Republicans saw the potential to use him as a conduit for attacks on Democrats. Such as his false and retracted report that Clinton advisor Sidney Blumenthal beat his wife. (Had he bothered to check it out? Obviously not.) - Fact and knowledge are not necessarily Drudge strong suits. - SLIME AND Skull-DRUDGE-ry - TVNEWSLIES.ORG REVISITS A DESPERATE MATT DRUDGE
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