I've noticed how some news get reported here, days before the Drudge report. Good job TB2000!

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), January 21, 2000

Answers

please excuse the typo on the word "get"...but you get my drift anyway...can't type worth a darn anymore...keep maaakkin typppposss.... =)

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), January 21, 2000.

Yes, and Gary North seems to have lost an edge as well. I suspect they were/are frustrated/shocked/amazed at the apparent absence of major Y2K impacts.

For the record my own expectation is that the rollover as seen on CNN and ABC was well staged with backup equipment, planned in advance with plenty of glitz and glamor, piece of entertainment with no news value. Contingency plans were in affect for manual operations, rolling the date backwards, or run on backup equipment.

One pre-rollover source said that it would take about 23 days to see Y2K affects in the community/marketplace. See the oil threads here and elsewhere, if oil supply is being impacted by Y2K failures, the timing is right on schedule. A coincidence? I doubt it.

-- Bill P (porterwn@one.net), January 21, 2000.

Dee, No, I don't think it's just you. Here are three of the "headlines" today from the Drudge report...

HORROR: NY Doctor Carved Initials into Flesh of New Mother...
John Tesh sues owners of johntesh.com...
HOWARD STERN VOWS TO BOYCOTT THE LETTERMAN SHOW OVER PRANK...

That's a looong way down from his days of Waco investigative reporting.

-- (RUOK@yesiam.com), January 21, 2000.

It seems to be turning toward the tabloid trade. It always did have a flavor of soft news- for example, TV show ratings winners were always a big thing to Matt.

-- Scarecrow (Somewhere@Over.Rainbow), January 21, 2000.

Agreed.

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), January 21, 2000.

Actually, I very much appreciated the pointer to the Sundance Film Festival highlights...and commercialization of the festival.

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), January 21, 2000.

The guy is useless.

I and various cyber-buddies have e-mailed him many breaking stories - never even the courtesy of a reply.

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), January 21, 2000.

I AGREE DEE....i emailed hem on the pine ridge problem when it first broke on this site....i hear he did finally..[one day after i emailed him] run a short ap slip...but if he did it was off his site as fast as it went on. it` a shame too since he had the possibility of being a good `investigating reporter`...what happened????.........hummmmmm!

-- mutter (murmur@ya.com), January 21, 2000.

Every journalist experiences cycles... and Drudge did a fine job showcasing a lot of y2k stuff pre-Rollover. Maybe it is just a lull before something else breaks that he is working on behind the scenes. When you are busy on something, you tend to be more cautious about reacting fast to other critical stuff. Just cut him some slack ... I think he will come roaring back, like all good journalists.

PBS discussion of internet news coverage this week included a mention of "Slate" and the potential of internet publishing, but carefully avoided mention of Drudge, a natural part of that story. He has contributed more than he gets credit for from the mainstream press.

In any event, he did a fine job linking to the Bradley heart issue, point being the ailment was not serious enough for Bradley to consult a doctor these last few times. All night the network news was talking up the heart ailment saying it was "not life threatening" but never bothering to mention Bradley did not need to see a physician this time. We need Drudge to point out the parts of stories that get lost in the mainstream rehash.

-- Normally (Oxsys@aol.com), January 21, 2000.

Heh, THEY are the same, you've just RAISED your standards! Remember even monthsssss ago Gary would pull a thread from here sometimes days after it was posted?

-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), January 21, 2000.

Normally,

I agree, he has done a good job and never received the credit he deserved. I am only saying that I notice a difference in his reporting of late. The headline he ran today was first available about 5 days ago...that's not like him.

I'm not looking for y2k news from him in particular, just news. I've always liked his style...kind of like the old style journalists. I like that.

My question was simply...is the report slipping? And I feel it is a valid question. Just wondered if he was getting burned out, or like you point out, maybe he's been working on a big story. I am quite familiar with the publishing business and I know it is a fast paced, high stress field. I admire Matt for his bold reporting and have been a big fan.

Thanks for your input. Much appreciated.

~Dee =)

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), January 21, 2000.

Matt Drudge is very busy. He can't be everywhere at the same time. Give him credit for his efforts.

-- dinosaur (dinosaur@williams-net.com), January 21, 2000.