Book Reviewed: The Drudge Revolution: The Untold Story of How Talk Radio by Matthew Lysiak

An inspiring story of Matt Drudge

This is a fascinating story of Matt Drudge that recreates a life from beginning to the end, the promise, and perils of a conservative journalist. His personal and professional life is a result of robust citizen journalist movement inspired by the Internet. Drudge was a high school dropout who grasped the potential of the world wide web and established online news publications that became a new mechanism for reaching vast audiences. He found a way to access privileged news information only a few editors of leading newspapers could access. For example, a news item from Associated Press had many versions, and editors of newspapers across the globe selected the versions they liked and printed in their newspapers, essentially manipulating the news readers.

At one time, Drudge Report set the tone for national political coverage. During the 1996 presidential campaign, he was the first to report Sen. Bob Dole’s choice of a vice presidential running mate. In 1997, printed the story of Kathleen Willey’s sexual harassment accusations against Pres. Bill Clinton, and then a story claiming that White House aide Sidney Blumenthal had a history of spousal abuse. He was the first to report Bill Clinton’s sex scandal with Monica Lewinsky, and many other breaking news during Clinton, Bush, and Obama presidencies. His readership grew to millions per day, and gradually dwindled. He helped the career of conservative reporters like Andrew Breitbart.

Living in an era where elite journalists, the products of universities and colleges that is a citadel for left-wing faculty, journalism is a tool of social justice and progressive reform. Patriotism is old news and traditional values are replaced with liberal ideals. It was then Matt Drudge caused revolution in conservative news reporting.

This book is beautifully written and reads flawlessly; highly recommended.