Bias can be a subtle thing. Subtle and powerful. In a recent story published by a New York Times reporter at MSNBC.com we are treated to the exploits of "news reporter Matt Drudge," while the same outlet continues to refer to this website as "the king of all liberal blogs."
Hmmm?
Crawling into work this morning, the coffee barely settled in my stomach and the rain still wet on my hair, I clicked onto my morning roundup of media to check the headlines and start my day. Prominent on MSNBC.com this morning is a story about Hillary Clinton's efforts to make nice with Matt Drudge, the fedora-ed conservative blogger who noisily shoved his beak into the Clinton's personal lives, leading, ultimately, to the former president's impeachment.
The story, itself, was fodder - nothing anyone would care to read. Pure inside baseball, likely stimulated by Drudge himself as a means of stoking his diminishing relevance. HOWEVER, what struck me as odd was the series of adjectives by which Matt Drudge was described, below his photo:
News reporter Matt Drudge, publisher of the Drudge Report Web site, attends the White House Correspondents' Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel on April 30, 2005.
News reporter. News reporter? What makes one a "news reporter" these days? The ability to rent a tuxedo and attend the annual Correspondents' Dinner - or unquestioning loyalty to the Republic Party and their cause de jour?
No, Matt Drudge, sadly, is one of us. A blogger. A blogger dripping with bias whose publication is distributed for free via the World Wide Web. His accuracy rate is poor, his political loyalty is notorious, and his street cred outside "the bubble" is nonexistant.
And yet, for New York Times reporter Jim Rutenberg he rates membership in the coveted "old media club."
How does this website rate, dear reader, in the eyes of the New York Times and MSNBC.com? A story from October 13 tells you all you need to know:
Even in a crowd of Democrats in the college town of Iowa City, mingling over lemonade and apple pie at their annual barbecue, it was hard to find many people who had so much as heard of the king of all liberal blogs, Daily Kos. ("Daily Post?" one man repeated quizzically.)
Out of his entire pathetic career Matt Drudge has rated One Big Scoop. Admittedly, it was big - though the importance of Lewinsky, Blue Dresses, and White House BJ's is debatable set against the atrocities of the current administration. Whereas, Daily Kos remains a consistent hotbed of - obviously - progressive journalism. For instance this is the first place ANYWHERE I was exposed to the racial injustice playing out in Jena, Louisiana.
Regardless, we have a long way to go. The media narrative has shaped up such that liberal bloggers are nothing more than a collection of dirty hippies whimpering in the wilderness, whereas conservative bloggers are allowed to rate the coveted title of "news reporter." Indeed, disgusting.
Kos, I think it's time to rent that tux.