Big media vs. Regular Joe (or Matt)

[Tommy Ceez]

Love him, or hate him, you HAVE to admire the impact that regular guy Matt Drudge has had on how news is reported in this country.

Arianna Huffington, Warren Betty, Gwynith Paltrow, Senator Jon Corzine, David Geffen, Viacom co-chief Tom Freston, Barry Diller and Tina Brown are starting a group blog to directly challenge Drudge's web dominance. (Including ripping off his name)

http://www.observer.com/pages/nytv.asp

Does anyone else find it disturbing (or inspiring) that media bigs are scrambeling very hard to challenge a website written by a former gift shop clerk?

Even if you think he's satan and a total ass, he is the prototype for the citizen journalist.

[wendersfan]

I care even less about what Warren Beatty or Barry Diller might write about than I do with Matt Drudge (if that's mathematically possible).

Now, if Beatty wants to make another movie like <b>Bulworth</b>, that's a different matter. I thought it was a brilliant commentary on some of the problems with race and the Democratic Party, and it was funny, too.

[classicman2]

I liked Reds. ;)

[DVD Polizei]

Anything Arianna Huffington gets involved with, is a sure loss. She and her friends don't have the concentration.

[bhk]

Excellent, I like it when dems throw money down a rat hole. Speaking of which, AlBore recently announced a new TV network.

[wendersfan]

Ironic that all these liberals are supply siders now. They seem to think that, with a sufficient supply of liberal media sources they will create a demand for them. Whatever.

[sfsdfd]

Ironic that all these liberals are supply siders now. They seem to think that, with a sufficient supply of liberal media sources they will create a demand for them. Whatever.
You could've written this about the conservatives' efforts in creating the Fox News Network. That seems to have worked out quite well.

I don't think this is about "creating demand," but rather about mobilizing existing demand.

- David Stein

[bhk]

The libs and their presstitutes in the old media can't seem to believe that the "niche" market that Fox News has tapped into is 52% of the population.

[wendersfan]

You could've written this about the conservatives' efforts in creating the Fox News Network. That seems to have worked out quite well.
I could have, but it wouldn't have been (as) appropriate, since conservatives embraced supply side theories more readily than liberals.
I don't think this is about "creating demand," but rather about mobilizing existing demand.Not when the "supply" is created from a top down style, instead of emerging from the grassroots/local markets. There's barely any demand for Air America (that I can see), so why is there a need for more liberal media?

[kvrdave]

I predict this will be nearly as big as Air America.

[Jason]

What makes you think that Matt Drudge is a "regular guy"?

[MartinBlank]

This might actually fly....I heard on talk radio this morning that Air America is a HUGE hit on the net.....and THAT'S why ratings are down, it's not the fact that a Libs attention span is way to short to cope without constant visual stimuli. MTV RULES.....VOTE OR DIE! I heard that Puff Daddy has to raom the country and personally kill each and every 18-25 year old who didn't vote in 2004.

[bhk]

I heard that Puff Daddy has to raom the country and personally kill each and every 18-25 year old who didn't vote in 2004.

That's just the average lifestyle of a rapper.

[sfsdfd]

I could have, but it wouldn't have been (as) appropriate, since conservatives embraced supply side theories more readily than liberals.
I didn't mean the "supply side" part, but rather the thinly-veiled cynicism. You can blame that on my poor quoting (I was in the middle of an amazingly dull artificial-intelligence class.)
Not when the "supply" is created from a top down style, instead of emerging from the grassroots/local markets.
Was Fox News a "grassroots" or "local" market? Rupert Murdoch doesn't seem to fit the bill. Seriously, these two cases are very analogous.

- David Stein

[wendersfan]

<b>sfsdfd</b>, thanks for the clarification. My argument wrt FNC is that we aren't talking about 24 hour cable news, we're talking about blogs and talk radio. A grassroots based 24 hour cable news channel seems absurd. As far as Murdoch goes, he's just doing what he always does - uses his money to buy into new markets. I think the fact that FNC is more conservative than CNN is probably an afterthought for him (although I don't know for a fact).

[Tommy Ceez]

What makes you think that Matt Drudge is a "regular guy"?
Because the Drudge Report started as a website for rumors he heared managing the CBS Studios giftshop. Actually, it was first postings on Usenet, then a subscriber newsletter, THEN a website.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Drudge