Kent Newsome on technology, music and life

11/30/2005


Why Doesn't Drudge Blog?

As I have mentioned before, blogging software represents an evolutionary leap in web site content management. The right software and the right template make adding, editing, archiving and removing content a whole lot easier than it used to be. It also makes for a visually appealing and well organized web site.

So, given all of that, why does the Drudge Report still look like this? I used to start there first for breaking news, but good blog layouts have spoiled me and now I find his page to be very hard to read. A good blog makeover would do wonders for that page.

I would actually prefer a current RSS feed, but even if that's not going to happen, a new layout would suffice.

Drudge, you're still the man, but you need to fix your page in a big way. Set up a blog format, with sidebars and archives. Heck, do a podcast if you're so inclined. You've got good content, but it's just too hard to access and read.

Blog and blog now.

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Posted by Kent @ 11/30/2005 07:27:00 PM | Permalink

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2 Comment(s):

Excellent question.

You can get a RSS feed of Drudge's top stories here: http://www.drudgesiren.com/rss.php

It's updated every 10 minutes, sign up for the alerts as well!

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12/02/2005 11:36 AM  
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Having done some extensive research on Matt Drudge, I guess I’m the Drudge analyst to answer this. Here are Matt’s feelings (not my personal opinion) on the issue:

He likes to keep things simple. If he hasn’t taken anyone up on offers to clean up his site over the past 10 years, he ain’t gonna.

He’s a bit rigid and overzealous in his disdain for coined techno-terms like “blog”, “blogger”, and “podcast”. (As for podcasting, keep in mind he’s got a syndicated radio show that’s doing very well.) He has said, “I’m probably the worst marketer out there. I just don’t care. I throw my energy into the site.”

He hates Java and apps. He started his site on an ancient version of Netscape.

I would argue at this point that the Courier font and layout is part of his branding, and a sudden change wouldn’t generate much more favor than New Coke did in the late 80s.

He’ll never start up a blog per se because he doesn’t feel confident in his ability to write and spell. Even his book, Drudge Manifesto, was mostly ghostwritten by his co-author, Julia Phillips, down to certain phrases and the talking pet.

He has also long accepted the fact that he’s not going to be the man forever, that something like a computer virus or publications charging for content or people simply getting tired of him, will turn the tide. He’s going to do what he wants to do for as long as he can.

Most importantly, he also lacks time to think that much about it. He got thousands of e-mails a day even in the early years, and works 14 hours a day, even when traveling.

Trust me. Matt Drudge has heard and read comments like yours many times. Call him hard-headed or foolish, but the current DR is there to stay as it is.

By Anonymous RegoPark, at 1/09/2006 5:17 PM  
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