‘BREAKING:’ Drudge Linked to Conspiracy Websites 184 Times in the Last Year
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REPORT BREAKING: Drudge Linked To Conspiracy Websites 184 Times In The Last Year
By Aviva Shen on Jul 18, 2012 at 9:26 am
A ThinkProgress study of the the Drudge Report reveals the popular internet aggregator has linked 184 times to InfoWars and World Net Daily, two sites that promote the internet’s worst conspiracy theories, since June 2011. By directing millions of visitors to these websites, Drudge is providing critical financial and reputational support to publications that argue 9/11 was an inside job, FEMA is building concentration camps and President Obama was not born in the United States.
Matt Drudge, Mitt Romney, and Alex Jones
Despite his support for paranoid conspiracy theorists, Drudge has received frequent praise from the media and political right. Mark Halperin, senior political analyst for Time Magazine and MSNBC, has called Drudge ‘the Walter Cronkite of his era,’ advising ‘you can’t refresh Drudge too often.’ Politico co-founder John Harris recently called Drudge Report’s influence on the political debate ‘a real achievement.’ During this year’s campaign, Mitt Romney singled out Drudge as one of his favorite websites, and posted an online video of himself reading the Drudge Report on his iPad.
Drudge can provide 10% or more of total traffic to large media sites like NYPost.com, Boston.com and FoxNews.com, creating a powerful incentive for the mainstream media to overlook the unsavory side of his operation.
EXCLUSIVE: @DRUDGE funneled at least 30 million visitors to the internet’s worst conspiracy sites over the last year thkpr.gs/DrudgesConspir…
— ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) July 18, 2012
