Breaking News. Sun Rises In East.

by digby

Let me just say up front that I like Chris Cilizza. Of all the MSM bloggers, he’s probably the one who walks the line between the two forms most successfully. I read his stuff with interest.

But every once in a while he writes something that is so beltway bubblicious that I have to laugh out loud. Today he lets fly with a doozy:

Drudge-ology 101: McCain, Obama and Media Bias

Yesterday was a typical recent day on the Drudge Report — the single most influential source for how the presidential campaign is covered in the country.

In the banner headline spot for most of the day was a picture of entertainer Barbra Streisand touting a Beverly Hills fundraiser for Barack Obama — not exactly the sort of headline that the Illinois senator wants as chum for the cable channels 49 days before the election.

Two other stories never merited attention from Drudge: a claim by a senior aide to John McCain that the Arizona senator had invented the BlackBerry and a statement by McCain surrogate Carly Fiorina that neither McCain nor Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin would be equipped to serve as CEO of a major U.S. company.

(A quick note to preempt the inevitable argument that Drudge’s influence is overblown. Tomorrow morning, take a minute to look at the stories Drudge is highlighting. Then, later in the day, watch a few cable channels to see what stories they are talking about. It will open your eyes.)

The emphasis on Obama’s Hollywood ties and the omission of two negative McCain items is consistent with a broader trend over the past month (or so) that has seen the Arizona senator receive far better treatment from Drudge than he had during the primary season when, as several other acute political observers noted at the time, a number of tough stories for McCain regularly appeared on Drudge.

The increase in positive McCain stories featured on Drudge has coincided with more skeptical coverage of Obama’s candidacy. In recent weeks, Drudge has featured in his center well spot: A picture of Obama shooting at a far off basketball hoop with a subtitle asking “Will he get his groove back?”; an image of Obama sweating on stage at the Democratic National Convention during the Illinois senator’s acceptance speech; and heavy coverage of the “lipstick on a pig” comments.

What explains the change in tone? It’s easy to lapse into the tired old logic that Drudge is nothing more than a conservative mouthpiece returning to his roots as election day nears.

But, those who follow the news choices that Drudge makes on a day in and day out basis — Democrats and Republicans alike — argue that the shift in focus by Drudge is in keeping with a long time strain of his site: a healthy disdain for the mainstream media and their perceived biases.

“The Drudge Report penalizes mainstream media bias more effectively than any other venue,” said one Drudge-ologist who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “The more flags Drudge throws, the more site traffic he seems to get.”

These Drudge-ologists (of which The Fix considers himself one) note that the coverage turned in earnest after McCain named Palin as his running mate.

I honestly don’t even know what to write about this. So I’ll just show a picture taken by a freeper a while back:

The highlight of the FReep was seeing our friends Matt Drudge, Ann Coulter and Peggy Noonan come walking up the sidewalk together towards us from the direction of Dupont Circle.

The trio looked like the new Mod Squad: Matt wore his trademark fedora and dark sunglasses to go with his tux, Ann was stunning in her beautiful black dress…

(You’ll note that a freeper version of The Mod Squad includes two blond women and no black man…)

I had always thought that the John Harris line “Drudge rules our world” at least took into consideration that Drudge himself was a right wing tool and the reporters factored that into his information (or thought they did.) But apparently, they have actually been laboring under the illusion that Drudge is a reliable, non-partisan purveyor of straight information. Wow. That truly does stun me.

This may be the single most illuminating post ever written by a mainstream reporter. That he writes it so guilelessly and without even the slightest disclaimer tells you everything you need to know about American journalism.

By golly, Drudge seems to have a political agenda! Someone alert the media. Apparently, they didn’t know.

Update: Jamison Foser weighs in at County Fair

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