Drudge Manifesto [Hardcover]

Matt Drudge (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2000

That man who broke those stories has written the book...

manifesto n. : a written statement declaring publicly the intentions, motives, or views of the writer.

drudge: "the country's reigning mischief maker."-New York Times

controversial adj. : that which relates to or causes controversy.

Get ready.

From the first source for the hottest news stories...From the first reporter ever to be sued by the White House...From the first word in the future of journalism...Comes the first book by Matt Drudge-the most sensational, the most outspoken, behind-the-scenes story of the year. Download it now.

In DRUDGE MANIFESTO, Drudge reveals how he discovered and broke the stories that threatened the Clinton presidency, how his bombshells sparked one of the most intense media frenzies in history, and how he envisions the future of journalism.

With searing wit and unflinching honesty, Drudge gives his fans (and his enemies) what they've come to expect from his website: the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth - unedited, uncensored, unspun. Drudge takes readers behind the scenes of the scandals -- from the pressrooms, to the green rooms to his "newsroom" -- that made him famous and tells all for the first time.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Working from a small apartment in Hollywood, Matt Drudge became one of the country's most notorious journalists when he reported that Newsweek had spiked a story about a sexual relationship between President Clinton and a certain White House intern. Of course, there are many (mostly professional reporters) who argue that Drudge should not be labeled a journalist at all, and it is upon this issue that the Drudge Manifesto is based. As Drudge notes, he has "no budget, no bosses, no deadline," and as a result of this independence he is both feared and reviled, admired and respected. Ostracized by the establishment he may be, but his popular appeal is undeniable: the Drudge Report Web site received over 240 million hits in 1999, and the numbers are rising. Members of the White House staff check in daily, as do many of the media elite who viciously denounce Drudge in public. Like it or not, he has become a force in Internet journalism.

Drudge collaborated with Julia "You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again" Phillips to produce a writing style that reads like a breathless and often disjointed e-mail. But the book is a vehicle for ideas, not sparkling prose, and its value lies in Drudge's assessment of the current state of the media as well as his take on its future. One of the most interesting (and certainly the clearest) parts is a transcript of a Q&A session conducted at the National Press Club on June 2, 1998, which lays out Drudge's manifesto better than the book itself. The NPC is hostile territory for Drudge, and, unsurprisingly, he is grilled by moderator Doug Harbrecht. In the end, Drudge makes a strong and thoughtful case for his methods and his right to be a reporter. And he gets in plenty of zingers of his own: "You know, these questions are pretty tough, and I think if you directed this type of tough questioning to the White House, there'd be no need for someone like me, quite frankly."

This is also a chance for Drudge to sound off. He boasts of beating CNN (by eight minutes) to the announcement of Princess Diana's death; of being the first to report Bob Dole's selection of Jack Kemp as his running mate; of his scoop of the Microsoft-NBC merger. He replays the events surrounding his decision to release the Lewinsky information on January 17, 1998 (the book is dedicated to Linda R. Tripp), and volunteers his favorite Web sites and sources. His book is not only a manifesto but a manual for anyone interested in following his lead. "With a modem, a phone jack, and an inexpensive computer, your newsroom can be your living room, your bedroom... your bathroom, if you're so inclined," he writes. In today's media climate, that's the way it is. --Shawn Carkonen

Review

"Matt Drudge is journalism's bad boy, Clinton's worst nightmare, the guy who scoops the big-time media." -- Playboy magazine

"Matt Drudge is the kind of bold, entrepreneurial, free-wheeling, information-oriented outsider we need." -- Camille Paglia

"Matt Drudge is the man who is to the Internet, what I am to broadcasting." -- Rush Limbaugh

Sludge. -- President Bill Clinton

The country's reigning mischief-maker. -- The New York Times

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: NAL Hardcover; 1St Edition edition (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451201507
• ISBN-13: 978-0451201508
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (118 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #716,499 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #57 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Current Events > Mass Media
  • #63 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( C ) > Clinton, Bill

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

94 of 102 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Drudge & Philips tell it like they see it, October 4, 2000

By 

Daniel Baker (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Drudge Manifesto (Hardcover)

In a world where people are afraid to speak out against the big journalistic machine, it is refreshing to read a book that puts it all on the line. I couldn't put it down. It is an easy (but thought provoking) read. If you have halfabrain you won't want to miss this edgy manifesto co-written by Hollywood legend Julia Philips.

75 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An engaging muddle, October 4, 2000

By 

Jussi Bjorling - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drudge Manifesto (Hardcover)

As anyone familiar with Matt Drudge's work might expect, this book is something of a mishmash. Drudge regales the reader with anecdotes from his reporting over the last several years, mixed in with a healthy dose of his theories of politics and the media. The result can be a little overbearing, as Drudge frequently and fondly refers to himself as one of the great journalistic pioneers of our era, but when his ego is in check, he can be extremely thoughtful (presenting, for example, an innovative approach to the responsibilities of journalism and how they have already been compromised by others). The dirt he has dug up in the course of his work is also great reading.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Matt Drudge - It could only happen in America!, October 5, 2000

By 

Ken Cook (Chelmsford, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Drudge Manifesto (Hardcover)

I literally read this book in one sitting. Had this book on order for months and it finally arrived today. I started reading it around 4PM and simply could not put it down. Dinner occurred between pages 96 and 120 and finally finished it around 8PM tonight.

This is clearly one of the greatest American stories I have ever read. A young clerk in a dead-end job, Matt started pulling Nielsen ratings out of CBS wastebaskets and posting them on the Internet. Soon, his mailing lists involved hundreds of people in the entertainment industry, many of which began giving him inside scoop on other things. Matt posted these as well and his website began to take off. Soon people from all over the country began feeding him tips. He developed some White House contacts and the rest is history.

Matt Drudge was one of the first people to realize that on the Internet, anybody could post anything and it could be seen by everybody everywhere. Matt has total editorial control of what he posts. Nobody can tell him he can't, nobody can fire him, nobody can blackball him because he doesn't belong to anything. For no matter how much the "mainstream" media try to discredit him, there will always be low-level employees at CBS, the New York Times or the Washington Post who will feed him inside information - or dish the dirt. And they HATE him for it!

I've been visiting the DRUDGE REPORT for four years now on a daily basis. It is my home page so I probably hit it at least 20-25 times a day. Yet whenever I see that blue siren flashing, I still get those same butterflies in my stomach, sort of like when they break into your favorite TV program with a SPECIAL NEWS REPORT. The amazing thing about Matt Drudge is that it could easily have been any one of us. It's just that Matt thought of it first and to his credit, he still does it best.

The book is laid out differently than your average book. As you read through it, you almost get the sense you are surfing the web and jumping from page to page. My only complaint about this book (and why I gave it four stars instead of five) is that it is just too short! At 247 pages I was left wanting more. So I logged onto his website before coming here to post this review, hoping to see the siren lit up with another breaking story. Not this time, but give him another hour.