Drudge says 'me first!'

THE DRUDGE Report's recent "scoop" that Prince Harry of Britain was serving on the front lines in combat in Afghanistan is a textbook example of what is wrong with journalism today. Firstly, the story endangered the life of the prince and his fellow soldiers, a fact that was clearly foreseeable to Drudge. The British defense ministry wisely unavoidably but necessarily brought the lieutenant back home. However, Drudge wasn't interested in the consequences of his actions, he was only concerned with how he would benefit. In Drudge's case, he doesn't even have the excuse of being a partisan hack a la Bell Keller at the New York Times. Drudge is simply a hack and a whore. I deleted his bookmark. I can't imagine I am the only one. However, I think many people these days—people whose thinking I honestly can't fully comprehend—believe have some "right" to know everything, regardless of how it damages the subject of the smear or in this case "scoop." I have worked in this profession for more than 20 years and I am ashamed to even admit it. Is it really that surprising that the media is so roundly disliked by the public? People instinctively understand that the press has succeeded in creating a bulwark that it, cowards almost all, hides behind while throwing stones at innocents, killing metaphorically and in fact without consequence to themselves. I am not even sure that people know that it wasn't always this way. And that it can and will only get worse.