So I see that Arianna Huffington will be
launching a website called the "Huffington Report," for the purpose of competing with Matt Drudge, i.e., of being a "Drudge of the left."
I applaud this effort. Matt Drudge clearly is a mouthpiece for Republican talking points, and there is no question in my mind that Karl Rove has Drudge on speed dial and regularly plants stories there with the aim of furthering the republican agenda. We need to compete with this right-wing media outlet, and I applaud anyone who takes it on.
On the other hand, I am highly skeptical that this "Huffington Report" will succeed. Why? Because there appear to be no contributors who have any track record of successful blogging or journalism. Rather, the strategy has been to cherrypick "famous liberals," and hope that that fame will carry over to success regardless of journalistic or writing talent. For instance, the list includes:
Warren Beatty
David Geffen
Barry Diller
Gweneth Paltrow
No offense, but have you ever thought to yourself: "Gee I really wish Gweneth Paltrow had a blog"? Me neither.
I would suggest that we are already developing a "Drudge of the left." Raw Story was started over a year ago by a "nobody." (A guy in his early twenties with a journalism degree named John Byrne). In that short period of time, he has cultivated superior sources in Democratic Congressional offices and at the major newspapers, and is now breaking headline stories before they hit the NYT and WP headlines in the same manner as Drudge. And he is also the first to break stories generated from Harry Reid and John Conyers' offices, among others. Clearly, he has become a place for people to look and see what is happening in the Democratic Congressional caucus, and also what may be hitting the major newspapers the next day. Also, Mr. Byrne has teamed up with Michael Rogers of Blogactive, and therefore now has the inside track on every new story of another secretly gay but homophobic republican operative being "outed."
I would posit that we already have a "Drudge of the left": Raw Story!
I would rather read a talented blogger/writter/journalist than a bunch of famous people with no experience trading on their names any day of the week. Although it would be great if I were wrong and the Huffington Report turned out, in fact, to be an awesome new addition to the activist on-line media.
Full disclosure: I discovered Raw Story at the very beginning, when it broke its very first big story -- getting Lawrence Korb (former assistant defense secretary in the Reagan administration), to give his legal opinion that Bush went AWOL. Since then I have corresponded with Raw Story's editor and have found him to be a stand up and honest guy dedicated to doing a quality job.