Matt Drudge TOPICS: Govenment / Politics Internet Journalism FEE CATEGORY:* Contact for fee schedule Profile Request This Speaker

Called both a "citizen-journalist" and "the bad boy of the Internet," Matt Drudge turned a lifelong fascination with gossip into a career in 1995 when he launched The Drudge Report, a daily electronic rumor bulletin published on the Internet.

Captivated at an early age by current events, Drudge got a job delivering papers for the Washington Star. Working the route gave him an opportunity to catch up on the day's news.

"I used to sit there and read the paper," Drudge said later. "I was always looking at those Op-Eds and seeing who was doing what to who and stuff like that. I was more interested in the media stuff than the politics, and still am. Ever since I was a little boy I've been obsessed with the D.C. culture, which was strange, since no one in my age group was interested. The only good grades I got in school were for current events."

By this time he got to high school, Drudge was already nearly six feet tall and had developed a bad case of acne. At times he would walk the school hallways wearing a press hat and a speckled sport jacket. Drudge's gangly, disheveled appearance caused other students to perceive him as a dark, brooding loner.

Compounding Drudge's social problems was his admitted lack of interest in any school activities. Despite his interest in current affairs, he made no effort to write for the high school newspaper. He declined to take part in clubs or organized athletics and seemed disinterested in his studies. According to one former classmate, Drudge "showed zero interest and zero volition and he just did the minimal amount and went home." Drudge eventually graduated 325th out of a class of 350.

Drudge decided that he would not be able to get into college. He took a series of odd jobs that included the night counterman at a 7-Eleven, a Time-Life books telephone salesman, and a sales assistant at a New York City grocery store. In 1989, he moved to Los Angeles where he rented a small Hollywood apartment. He got a job in the CBS studio gift shop and eventually worked his way up to manager. He remained a "news junkie," however, and longed for a way to parlay this interest into a career.

The explosion of the Internet gave Drudge the opportunity he was looking for. Having used the World Wide Web for some time to monitor Hollywood and Washington, D.C. gossip, he started The Drudge Report in 1995 as a way of spreading those rumors to the masses. Drudge posted word of his "scoops" in Internet newsgroups devoted to gossip and rumor-mongering. Those interested could then request e-mail bulletins or visit Drudge's rudimentary web site for more information.

One of his first big exclusives came when a stagehand told him that Jerry Seinfeld was demanding $1 million an episode for his television show. In 1996, Drudge was among the first to report presidential candidate Bob Dole's choice of Jack Kemp as a running mate.

By June of 1997, Drudge's e-mail report had more than 50,000 subscribers. It was reported that all of official Washington routinely checked his daily updates for the latest rumors and gossip. Perhaps the height of Drudge's influence came in January of 1998 when he helped break the sex scandal involving President Bill Clinton and White House intern Monica Lewisnsky. Relying on tips provided to him by conservative literary agent Lucianne Goldberg, Drudge was able to beat many national news magazines to the punch.

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