Drudge Report's Warning

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright March 9, 2010
All Rights Reserved.                                

             Warning Senate staffers about possible viruses from visiting the Drudge Report  and whitepages.com, the official Senate gatekeeper discouraged members from visiting the Web sites on government computers.  Visiting the Web sites “are responsible for the many viruses popping up throughout the Senate,” read an e-mail from the Environment and Public Works Committee obtained by FOXNews.com .  Frequently seen a bashing the Obama administration, the Drudge Report suspected politics behind the Senate’s warning.  “Please avoid using these sites until the Senate resolves this issue,” read the Senate e-mail.  With nearly 30-million visits a day according to the Web site, the Drudge Report has become one of the leading conservative “aggregator” sites, carefully selecting unflattering pictures, headlines, stories and quotes, bashing liberals and touting a Republican and conservative causes.

           While claiming to be a legitimate Internet news site, viewers know the Drudge Report lists numerous links to largely conservative columnists, foreign and domestic newspapers, with headlines and featured stories sharing the common denominator of attacking liberal causes and people.  Since President Barack Obama’s election Nov. 4, 2008, the Drudge Report has run nonstop features, stories and commentaries, from multiple sources, disparaging the administration.  Without making it official, the Drudge Report has been the Internet equivalent of Rush Limbaugh’s nationally syndicated radio show or the FOXNews Network, headed by former President George H.W. Bush's communication director Roger Ailes.  Drudge’s biased reporting reflect the same “fair-and-balanced” ways as FOXNews, where the entire network markets conservative politicians, causes and news stories.

            Like FOXNews, the Drudge Report covers leading conservative voices, in-and-out of politics, frequently citing the same politicians and pundits as Rush Limbaugh or conservative FOXNews commentators Sean Hannity and Glen Beck.  Conservative elected officials, especially House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are often quoted on the Drudge Report, largely bashing Obama’s agenda, making fighting the president’s health care plan as the GOP’s cause célèbre.  Calling Obama’s reform plan “a government takeover,” the Drudge Report helps promulgate the same pictures, headlines, stories and quotes that advance the GOP agenda.  Conversely, the site frequently places unflattering Democratic pictures, headlines, stories and quotes, displaying the most pernicious propaganda since WW II.

            Today’s news Web sites give no hint to readers about political affiliations, leaving readers scratching their heads trying to figure out hidden agendas.  While the same criticism can be leveled against liberal media and Web sites, the Drudge Report captures readers with excellent links and news sources, despite the cherry-picked pictures, headlines, stories and quotes that universally condemning liberals.  When Obama announced Nov. 30, 2009 his long-awaited decision to add 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, the Drudge Report focused on the president’s “dithering,” a nasty jab from former Vice President Dick Cheney.  Since inaugurated Jan. 20, 2009, the Drudge Report has run only negative pictures, headlines, stories and quotes about the U.S. economy, despite the rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average from around 8,000 to 10,500.  Wall Street hasn’t obliged the conservative agenda.

            Government and non-governmental organizations need to heed the difference between real news sites and sources of outright propaganda.  There’s nothing wrong with propaganda as long as it’s identified so readers know up-front political agendas.  Like warning labels posted on drugs, it would be most helpful for newspapers, Web sites and other news sources to identify political affiliations, including, for instance, FOXNews or MSNBC’s relationship with the Republican and Democratic Parties, if such relationships, in fact, exist.  When viewers review pictures, headlines, stories and quotes from a given news source, it should disclaim all political affiliations.  No one questions the quality of pictures, headlines, stories and quotes from Rush Limbaugh’s Web site.  Viewers get confused with FOXNews’ or Drudge Report’s claim of to “fair and balanced” when it mirrors the GOP agenda.

            Crying foul with the Obama administration, the Drudge Report needs to stop bashing liberal elected officials and slanting new reports to advance a GOP or conservative agenda.  Pretending to be “fair-and-balanced” insults the intelligence of the Drudge Report and FOXNews’ viewers, knowing full well that the biased presentation does little to educate both sides of important news stories.  First Amendment guarantees don’t give the Drudge Report or FOXNews a license to peddle pernicious propaganda that advances a right wing perspective at the expense of a truly balanced view of the news.  Free speech assures the Drudge Report or FOXNews the right to express one-sided opinions as long as the news and Web sites openly disclose biases.  First Amendment doesn’t give news organizations the right to deceive viewers by failing to disclose personal bias.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.