Matt Drudge Vants to Be Left Alone

Portfolio magazine blogger Jeff Bercovici thinks a recent magazine article drove Matt Drudge off the radio:

Matt Drudge is quitting his radio show, and, while he won't say why, I have a guess. Could it be that the secretive internet news czar feels overexposed after his recent profile by Philip Weiss in New York magazine? Although the piece was a write-around, Weiss was able to create the feel of an interview by quoting extensively from Drudge's on-air musings.

I emailed Drudge for comment but, big surprise, haven't heard back. Meanwhile, a rep for Premiere Radio Networks says it had nothing to do with the New York story: "He departed the radio business to focus on his website and other endeavors."

Weiss, in spite of being snubbed in his interview requests, used Drudge's radio show and old court documents to dig deep into his personal life.

If you read the piece, you'll see that Drudge has become much more publicity averse and reclusive in the last decade. Even Andrew Breitbart, a longtime pal who edits the Drudge Report in the afternoons (along with his own news site), told the reporter he hasn't spoken to Drudge in a year.

Twenty four hours after the story hit the web, Drudge removed the link to his radio show from the Drudge Report, according to Rego Park, a blogger who follows his career. Around 10 days later, news broke that he was quitting and a new host had been hired for the 325 stations that air Drudge's Sunday night show.

Journalism · Radio · 2007/09/11 · 4 COMMENTS · Link

Comments

What is your problem, Rogers? You want to cut off your nose to spite your face?

Whatever human problems you consider Drudge is plagued with, your fortunes seem chained to his!!!!

Surely, not that you resemble anything like tha word, you would not cut off your nose to spite your partisan face???

Say your not that kind of mullet!

#1 · tadowe · 2007/09/11

I'm not buying the drama that Drudge has grown MORE publicity averse...he has ALWAYS been both introverted and zealous about his privacy, particularly of his family. The un-dramatic truth is probably that he's at a point in his career where he doesn't have to keep such a high profile. You don't need any insider information to believe that.

I DID wonder, when I learned Drudge was leaving Premiere's network, whether the New York story might have played a role in his decision: if his radio contract included a thirty-day termination clause,that might have fit nicely into the time frame between the New York article and the September 30 finale. NEVERTHELESS, there are many more compelling reasons why quitting radio after 10 successful years might be a good business decision...which I blogged about, very reluctantly, because I correctly guessed that the media would blow it out of proportion and context.

#2 · RegoPark · 2007/09/16

It is probably endemic to the human race that each of us as an individual has some part of our nature which is perverse, contradictory or which defines our personal hypocrisy(s), our original sin.

Matt seemingly enjoys the 'gossip column' aspect of journalism on his site, and which consumes about 1/4 of each of his Sunday discussions on radio; if not sometimes more. However, he is also very much concerned about personal privacy issues and those in the public; e.g., satellite surveillance and cameras in public areas. Indeed, and despite his otherwise conservative interests, he gave a negative slant in favor of 'privacy' to the NSA, FISA issues, too.

Of course, this concern with personal and public privacy is not shared with the necessary investigations delving into the lives of Hollywood stars, the stalking cameras, the out-of-context lies, the suborning of witnesses...

Perhaps Drudge realizes his error in becoming a public figure? Unwilling to give up the 'gossip column' enjoyment of holding others up to public ridicule, or rarely adoration, he does the only other honest thing -- ends his public life and confines his position to that he certainly enjoyed, previously, that of editorial hermit.

That's best ... because, really, who wants to know the dreary details of a gossip columnist's life ... ?

#3 · tadowe · 2007/09/19

Matt Drudge, while manning the helm of what many of us would call an American dream for some 10 years, has never really had a thick skin, a necessity in "real" journalism. And I do believe that Matt has come under fire from certain political entities (no names here, of course) going into one of the most volatile presidential campaign seasons in American history. Frankly, I know that certain political entities would like to see the loose cannons in American news media silenced. We see certain political entities attacking the likes of radio hosts Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh and now, perhaps, Matt Drudge, as well -- the ultimate goal is to SILENCE anyone who assumes a political stance outside of the mainstream. I do believe that Matt was given a private warning from certain political entities, and I do believe that Matt -- lacking the fortitude of a truly seasoned journalist -- immediately knuckled under and stepped away from the microphone.

#4 · Charles A. Miller · 2007/10/15