Bill Clinton’s grudging and defiant admission that he had
indeed had an affair with Monica Lewinsky, despite having lied to the nation and under
oath, presents a great vindication for the Internet as a source of news. It also ought to
cause people to go back and take another look at stories carried on the Internet –
stories of lies, corruption and crimes of Bill Clinton that the mainstream press summarily
dismissed.
Traditional news outlets, academia and politicians criticized
the Internet as a bunch of conspiracy kooks that make up things that cannot be believed.
In some cases, that may be true; but if a person can keep an open mind mixed with a
critical eye, there is an immense amount of accurate information. It is becoming the place
to go, if you want timely and accurate news that isn’t censored by editors trained to
reflect a point-of-view that defends the status quo (regardless of accuracy or
importance). More and more people are realizing that the Internet is the place to find
cutting edge news. The best illustration of the evolving power of the Internet and the
controversy surrounding it is to look at the Internet’s first star.
The name Matt Drudge drives establishment journalists,
politicians and academics to the point of going postal. He is a self-proclaimed gossip
columnist that has used the Internet to become a household name and a major thorn in the
side of the news business because he regularly scoops them in breaking major news stories.
Drudge claims his Drudge Report Internet site has regular visits of between one
hundred to five hundred thousand a day and claims to have had over a million in one day.
He is also on America Online with a potential audience of over 10 million.
http://www.drudgereport.com/visits.htm
Drudge was already a growing celebrity, but shot into the
national spotlight last January when he broke the story on his web site that Newsweek was
about to break a story claiming President Clinton had an affair with former White House
intern Monica Lewinsky. With Clinton’s grudging admission that the story is true, it
means that the President committed perjury in a deposition and may have obstructed
justice.
Newsweek had decided not to run the story. However,
with Drudge scooping them, they changed their minds and ran with the story. Seven months
later, the scandal still is front page news and may lead to the impeachment of Clinton.
Also, Drudge broke a story months ago about a certain dress that might have DNA evidence
confirming the affair. This was not reported in the mainstream news until a few weeks ago.
http://www.drudgereport.com/lewinsky.htm
In a recent speech before the vaunted Washington Press club,
Matt Drudge summed up the opportunity that the PC and the Internet have for individuals in
a speech called, Anyone With a Modem Can Report on the World:
We have entered an era vibrating with the din of small voices.
Every citizen can be a reporter, can take on the powers that be. The difference between
the Internet, television and radio, magazines, newspapers is the two-way communication.
The Net gives as much voice to a computer geek like me as to a CEO or speaker of the
House. We all become equal. http://www.frontpagemag.com/Archives/miscellaneous/drudge.htm
When our founding fathers created the constitutional right of
Freedom of speech, it was intended to allow anyone to have a voice about the politics of
the country. At the time, there was widespread publication of news and opinion that led to
Revolution. Thomas Payne’s Common Sense is the most famous example. The press
was to be an uncensored voice of the people, not some elitist club that proclaimed itself
to be the source of all knowledge and truth like most of the same mainstream media does.
The Internet, along with the inexpensive publishing
capabilities of the personal computer, now make it possible for anyone to make their views
known to the world, as well as investigate and report news. This makes it more difficult
to know who is telling the truth. It requires a person to think for themselves instead of
accepting as gospel what they see and hear -- like millions used to do with Walter
Cronkite. I believe this will lead to better informed people who are able to think for
themselves.
Matt Drudge shows the possibilities of the Internet for any
individual to have a voice, but even the Internet is still dominated by the establishment
media. This already makes it difficult to compete for an audience. However, over time, I
think there will be many Matt Drudge’s who will emerge as competition to the media
moguls. I don’t think they will replace them; but as Bill Gates surpassed IBM, I
think there will be people that go from nowhere to national prominence and influencing the
nation’s news and opinions.
As the tide of evidence and opinion begins to mount against
Bill Clinton, we see Drudge and the prestigious New York Times going down the same
trail. However, Drudge stays one step ahead. The Times reports that the day Monica went to
testify, Clinton wore a tie she gave him.
http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/081998clinton-lewinsky.html
Drudge reports that when Clinton went before the American
people Monday night in order to admit the affair, he was wearing a tie that Monica gave
him. If the arrogant contempt for truth and the rule of law wasn’t evident enough
from the speech itself, this confirms that Clinton has no sorrow and considers himself
above the law. It also shows how Drudge is leading the way in news collection.
http://www.drudgereport.com/1.htm
In the recent Drudge report, Drudge shows how the Internet is
leading the way. In many cases, he’s doing a better job of reporting the news. By
doing some simple research that any journalist could do, Drudge dug up a quote from Bill
Clinton from 1974 in the Arkansas Daily Gazette about Richard Nixon that the nation should
demand of Bill Clinton. Clinton said of Nixon, "No question that an admission of
making false statements to government officials and interfering with the FBI is an
impeachable offense…I think it is plain that the president should resign and spare
the country the agony of impeachment and removal proceedings."
http://www.drudgereport.com/11.htm
