10 Years Ago Today, Matt Drudge Broke the News

By Rogers Cadenhead

Thursday, January 17, 2008 at 01:33 PM

On Jan. 17, 1998, Matt Drudge reported that Newsweek had spiked Michael Isikoff's story about President Clinton's sexual affair with Monica Lewinsky, the first shot in the war between the corporate and cautious culture of mainstream journalism and the completely batshit blogosphere.

Six weeks later, I registered Drudge.Com. It's hard to believe that Matt Drudge remains one of the most important journalists in the U.S., 10 years after he nabbed somebody else's scoop. I wish someone had told me, when I was enrolling in journalism school, that the road to becoming my generation's Edward R. Murrow passed through the CBS gift shop.

In honor of this milestone, the Retort has brought out its version of the siren: News Alert Banana.

As much as I'm loathe to give a compliment here, every news blogger and online journalist is an heir to Drudge, who realized before anyone else that all journalists are created equal on the browser's address bar.

So happy Monicaversary, everyone! I trust that you don't need to be told how this anniversary should be celebrated.