AS, knock it off...
On January 17, 1998, the Internet made its debut as a world-shaking tool of political communication. That was the day Matt Drudge used his Web site to introduce Monica Lewinsky to the world as the White House lover of President Bill Clinton. Drudge’s expose started a chain of events that culminated in the president’s impeachment, and in the process, he placed the spotlight on an irrevocable change in the balance of power between the ordinary citizen and the political establishment.
Monica wasn’t the beginning of the Internet’s involvement in politics, by any means. Drudge himself had been covering all the Clinton scandals for four years. Jim Robinson’s FreeRepublic.com was the leading right-wing political site on the Web, and in 1997 Joseph and Elizabeth Farah started WorldNetDaily, the first independent newspaper on the Web. But in 1998 the Internet was just beginning to penetrate mainstream America, and print media—notably The American Spectator—had been getting most of the spotlight for Clinton exposes. Monica changed all that. Drudge grew up in Takoma Park, Maryland, a politically far-Left suburb of Washington, D.C., also known as “the People’s Republic of Takoma Park.” He graduated 325th in his high school class of 350, but loved current events and was hooked on talk radio. “What a great place, Washington, D.C., to grow up in,” he later reminisced. “I used to walk these streets as an aimless teen, young adult, walk by ABC News over on DeSales, daydream; stare up at the Washington Post newsroom over on 15th Street, look up longingly, knowing I’d never get in …”
Instead he headed west to Hollywood and became manager of the gift shop at CBS Studios. He volunteered in the mail room from time to time. “I hit pay dirt when I discovered that the trash cans in the Xerox room at Television City were stuffed each morning with overnight Neilsen ratings, information gold.” He sensed the thrill of a scoop, but didn’t know what to do with his inside knowledge.
Then his father bought him a computer, hoping it might spark a desire for a more promising career. Matt was a quick learn, and within two months he was posting his gossipy scoops on Usenet and AOL and doing some writing for Wired magazine. “I collected a few e-mail addresses of interest,” he later recalled. “People had suggested I start a mailing list, so I collected the e-mails and set up a list called ‘The Drudge Report.’ One reader turned into five, then turned into 100. And faster than you could say ‘I never had sex with that woman’ it was 1,000—5,000—100,000 people. The ensuing Web site practically launched itself.”
“Lewinsky almost fell through the cracks,” says Drudge. “It was a stray e-mail that came in. You just go for it.” The results were far beyond anything he expected. “I had something like 400,000 visits that Saturday when that thing broke.” For three days he had the story to himself, and the whole world was clicking in. “I barricaded myself in the apartment. I was terrified, because from my Hollywood apartment a story of this magnitude was being born. I remember I teared up when I hit the ‘Enter’ button on that one that night, because I said, ‘My life won’t be the same after this.’ And it turned out to be right.” Then Rush Limbaugh read his entire reports over the air; then finally the establishment media acknowledged the story, which they had known about for weeks but had hushed up.
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