That links to the old stories, as originally published, beginning with:
At the last minute, at 6 p.m. on Saturday evening, NEWSWEEK magazine killed a story that was destined to shake official Washington to its foundation: A White House intern carried on a sexual affair with the President of the United States!"The president's sexual preference" is how people said "blow jobs" 20 years ago.*
The DRUDGE REPORT has learned that reporter Michael Isikoff developed the story of his career, only to have it spiked by top NEWSWEEK suits hours before publication. A young woman, 23, sexually involved with the love of her life, the President of the United States, since she was a 21-year-old intern at the White House. She was a frequent visitor to a small study just off the Oval Office where she claims to have indulged the president's sexual preference....
NEWSWEEK and Isikoff were planning to name the woman. Word of the story's impeding release caused blind chaos in media circles....And we've all been busy checking Drudge ever since. I'm exaggerating, saying "all." I know some resist. They're busy avoiding checking Drudge.
Michael Isikoff was not available for comment late Saturday. NEWSWEEK was on voice mail.
The White House was busy checking the DRUDGE REPORT for details.
_______________________
* We're much less prissy these days. Back then, we wouldn't use the rude words when they applied literally. These days, we use rude words just to be funny or emphatic — e.g., "shithole countries" — even though some of us still think we can get our fellow countrymen gasping over the outrage that the president's language preferences include a dirty word.
ADDED: I remember the reaction to Drudge 20 years ago, especially a lawprof colleague saying (angrily): "He's not a journalist," meaning that he should not be speaking conspicuously, exercising independent judgment about what is news, because he doesn't have the credentials that authorize him to operate in the profession called journalism. She said this very emphatically, as if it was somehow going to make Drudge go away or stop us from looking at him. I wish I'd had the presence of mind to start blogging that very day.
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39 comments:
Drudge was the first big crack in the dam of liberal media hegemony.
Of course Newsweek wouldn't print it. It wouldn't have fit their eternal narrative of noble liberals and evil conservatives. They were and remain ethical shitholes.
I am still seething with anger at Drudge for that!
"We're much less prissy these days."
Much less. We're even free to say that in addition to Slick Willie getting his knob shined, he also enjoyed a bit of anilingus while hiding his Cohiba up his intern's vagina!
Also celebrating the 20th anniversary of #IngaKnew.
How many more women will be raped and assaulted before she, and other lefty bleaters, takes a stand?
"I am still seething with anger at Drudge for that!"
Well at least you're not frankly seething with anger.
Then the media spiked sex stories about Democrats, now they seek out sex stories about Republicans.
So nothing has changed.
We're much less prissy these days
Prissy left when the transcripts were released.
You have to admit, he does do a good imitation of Frank when Frank is really pissed off!
Considering that NBC wouldn’t publish Ronan Farrow’s story about Weinstein just weeks ago, what has changed in two decades? Besides the delight women now take in using the word “blowjob.”
Has anyone interviewed the Newsweek Editors from back then, asking why they spiked the story? The answer seems obvious to me -- because Democratic Party -- but have they ever admitted it?
Fabi also nails it right out of the gate. From Drudge to Trump's Twitter feed. That's a straight line.
Re Newsweek: #TheyKnew.
They all did. Since FDR and JFK.
At least since Drudge, they know we know they knew. That is what they find most deplorable. It drives them crazy.
"At least since Drudge, they know we know they knew."
I like it. New hashtag: #TheyKnowWeKnowTheyKnew
Twenty years ago today, Chuck was emailing this to Drudge: "Congratulations, Drudge. You succeeded in distracting your readership away from (insert arcane unrelated topic here), and instead got them all wound up about something that may have happened between two consenting adults."
How Drudge garnered Althouse's attention.
Fabi said...
"Drudge was the first big crack in the dam of liberal media hegemony."
Drudge was huge, but I'd have to say Rush Limbaugh was the first.
what really irked me back then was the realization that not only were they ignoring
stories that painted dems in a bad light; they were actively squelching them
#TheyKnowWeKnowTheyKnew
It's odd that Drudge has gotten away with not having fixed individual links (or whatever they're called) like Insty has. One reason I rarely check it.
CNN's timeline has the story breaking on the 19th. FAKE NEWS!
@Boyd
I'd say it was Bob Grant.
The DNC press did all they could for their guy.
@Tank
Never heard of him. Was he nation wide?
Fabi was talking "big crack". Would you consider Bob Grant a big crack?
All the news that's fit to print, huh?
David Burge/Iowahawk: "Journalism is about covering important stories. With a pillow, until they stop moving."
Sex with interns, lies about sex with interns - who cares!
He's a DEMOCRAT.
leftwing prog do not care at all about the any sexual misconduct allegations against a DEMOCRAT.
I wish that those with the technocratic dream, insisting that people have the proper credentials for whatever they're doing, would apply their standard evenly. Here's a quick list of people in journalism without credentials in journalism: Pinch Sulzberger, David Brooks, Paul Krugman, Maureen Dowd, Frank Bruni.
@Boyd
Bob Grant was AM conservative talk radio in NYC back in the seventies and through at least the nineties. He was conservative talk radio before there was such a thing really. And he was vocal and vociferous. And in NYC. Many major conservative talk show hosts refer back to him.
He was one of the influences on Tank - turning him away from youthful foolishness. You can read about some of the people he influenced at Wiki.
Too many, in the so-called profession of journalism, have changed from gatekeepers to hate keepers.
That's true, Bob Boyd -- I should have delineated my comment for "new media".
Drudge was huge, but I'd have to say Rush Limbaugh was the first.
1/17/18, 7:31 AM
Limbaugh was the first to challenge the liberal media on a national scale (other talk radio hosts did it locally) in a non-print forum, but Drudge was the first to realize the potential of the Internet.
@Dave Schuler: Maureen Dowd - to her credit- used to write for a technical rag called "Chemical & Engineering News.." These days she just rags on technicalities.
Let's chart the separate paths taken by Newsweek (sold for $1 dollar) and Drudge (200 Billion hits) over the past 20 years......
It’s ironic that a lot of those in the journalistic field decry Drudge as a non-journalist, when yet all he does is provide links (often with a bit of shock/clickbaity - but not fake - captions).
The Big Cracks
Rush - radio
Fox News (Ailes and Murdoch?)- TV
Drudge - internet
Was there a big crack in print?
Who else am I forgetting?
Washington Times
WSJ editorial page
American Spectator State trooper article restarted the sex stuff post-Flowers.
Pajama bloggers who broke Rathergate.
The one who outed Weinstein
I remember it too, and I am stunned to realize it was 20 years ago. I wish I had started blogging then. I corresponded with some of them at the time but just didn't dip my toes in that warm water.
There have been a lot of changes since those early days of online news.
By coincidence, I'm re-reading Isikoff's "Uncovering Clinton". Really needs to be part of any journo curriculum, especially with sexual harassment once again gaining currency.
If you think this anniversary is worth celebrating, wait for the 20th anniversary of the release of the Starr Report. I recall downloading it at work, using a Drudge link, and spending the day laughing uproariously with coworkers as we read about Bill and Hillary's adulterous affair and its aftermath. Comedy gold!
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