Matt Drudge is the man who revolutionized journalism in the Internet age, helped break the Old Media's stranglehold on news distribution, and started the process that almost brought down a president. And he did so from a libertarian perspective.

The controversial cyber-journalist -- who has been praised as a "daredevil pioneer" of online news gathering, and scorned as a mere "gossip guru" who recycles other people's work -- has said several times that he is a libertarian. In an interview in Playboy (August 1998), Drudge said about politicians, "I am a libertarian, not trusting any of them." And in the Online Journalism Review (July 16, 1998), Robert Scheer reported that Drudge told him, "I'm a libertarian except for drugs and abortion."

However, Drudge also admits to being a conservative. In Radar Magazine (June 1, 2003), he described himself as a "pro-life conservative who doesn't want the government to tax me." In the same magazine, he acknowledged that he was a registered Republican. But, he said, "I follow my own instincts rather than any political agenda."

So call him a libertarian/conservative. Whatever you call the fedora-wearing fellow with a modem for a megaphone, there is no doubt that Drudge rewrote the rules of journalism for the 21st century.

His "Drudge Report" news service got its start in late 1994, when Drudge was the manager of the CBS Television gift shop in Los Angeles. Posting to Usenet sites, he reported the entertainment industry gossip he overheard in the shop, and quickly built a devoted following. Over time, his reports expanded to include general news and politics. As his fame grew, Wired magazine and then AOL paid him for posting rights to the Drudge Report -- and the one-time hobby became a full-time business. Soon afterwards, he launched the Web site that made him famous, www.DrudgeReport.com.

In 1996, Drudge attracted national attention when he broke the story that Bob Dole had selected Jack Kemp as his running mate. More scoops would follow, including the one that made him a household name: In 1998, he reported that Newsweek magazine was sitting on evidence that President Bill Clinton had engaged in sexual relations with intern Monica Lewinsky. In the publicity firestorm that followed, Drudge became the new face of Internet journalism. Later, Drudge said he was proof that "every citizen can be a reporter [and] can take on the powers-that-be." (National Press Club, June 2, 1998.)

Before too long, however, Drudge himself became one of the powers-that-be. His Web site continued to grow in popularity, attracting upwards of 6.5 million visitors a day -- and more than 1.4 billion hits a year. (The site became so famous that it spawned its own parody site, The Drudge Retort.) Drudge got a weekly television show, The Drudge Report, on the Fox network (1998-1999). His 2000 book, The Drudge Manifesto (co-written with Julia Phillips) became a bestseller. And his nationally syndicated radio show became one of the most popular shows in the country, with 1.25 million weekly listeners.

Even now that he is arguably part of the same establishment he used to rebel against, Drudge said his mission hasn't changed. "I think it's my job to be critical of whoever is in power..." he told Radar Magazine. "What I represent, if I see it correctly, is an independent voice who's willing to take on presidents and networks, and reveal [things] they don't want you to see."

-- Bill Winter

Quotable

"I am a libertarian, not trusting any [politician]." -- Matt Drudge in an interview in Playboy (August 1998)