Monday, August 12, 2013, Matt Drudge filtered news headlines of a story about a rodeo stunt by a clown wearing an Obama mask at the Missouri fairgrounds with a contrasting headline. Whether intended or not, the contrast may be seen to many as an attempt to influence a perception of Democrat hypocrisy.
That's the political side; the creative decisions made by Drudge to tap into a huge audience and reach millions is something else altogether. For anyone with a blog, a news site, Drudge's technique is worth breaking it down for a closer look..
This afternoon the headline featured on the Drudge Report, "Obama clown banned from the fair," was immediately followed with a riveting contrast," Video: Boy prays to Obama."
Matt Drudge never includes any commentary on his page; however, by the masterful selection of story flow and contrast headlines combined with placement of hyperlinks, perhaps Drudge doesn't need commentary to send his message or to target his desired readers.
Sunday, another Drudge link, "Newspaper Bane: Nobody reads the stories," explored evidence that hardly anyone was reading online news articles or to the end. Instead, many readers skim the high points and move along to share or not. Because of this change in reading habits, many journalists are sticking closely to the inverted pyramid format of delivering the main points of the story first, followed with the details.
For all of those readers entrenched in the "surf and skim" mode, The Drudge Report format offers a storyboard, easy to skim, easy to follow. If additional details are wanted, the rest of the story is only a click away.
Drudge skimps on media, however, a photo of Obama masks plus other Drudge links highlight his recent Obama clown story as well. By merely skimming the headlines, it's easy enough to grasp the basic story details. The following are flow links of the Obama clown story, as linked by Drudge:
Missouri Fair clown draws criticism for Obama mask... ' Shameful' and 'unacceptable'... Hooting and hollering from the stands... DEMS BLAST RODEO CLOWN...
It's possible "information gatekeepers" could learn some lessons from Matt Drudge, no matter their political leanings or subject matter. The Drudge Report is a perfect example of a format which allows folks to jump "into the 'flow' of information from time to time in the way that people might scoop up a pitcher of water from a river." That ability to "filter their information" according to the report on CNBC could make the difference in whether they survive in the new age of information sharing.
The Drudge Report is now and will be an influential "player" in the next election cycle. Sometimes, as in Drudge's case, perhaps "less is more." As the CNBC report also noted all savvy writers should learn how to better filter their information: "The premium seems to be on getting the who-what-where-when-why-how up high and hard." Fans have grown to expect precisely that from Matt Drudge. as an aside, it's too bad politicians don't get it.
Other articles suggested by the author:
'Take a deep breath, Matt Drudge' Does HuffPo ride Drudge Report's coattails for page views? The Megyn Kelly, Matt Drudge 'moment' It takes a Bill Clinton, Monica Lewinsky sex tape to push Weiner below the Drudge fold
via Examiner National Edition Gadgets & Tech Channel Articles http://www.examiner.com/article/the-drudge-report-filter-obama-clown-banned-vs-video-boy-prays-to-obama?cid=roadrunner