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We have discussed the Drudge Bias quite a bit. We have shown numerous examples of manipulative optics, specifically and intentionally framed narratives, and supression of non-conforming media stories not in alignment with the Drudge agenda. However, a new realization that Andrew Breitbart was as concerned, if not more so, is most certainly affirmational to our suspicions. Interesting development…….

(Stacy McCain) In a Wednesday talk-radio appearance, conservative filmmaker John Ziegler said that the late Andrew Breitbart told him that during the 2008 presidential election campaign, Matt Drudge altered content on his famous Drudge Report site in such a way that Breitbart believed Drudge was “in the tank” for Barack Obama.

Interviewed by Chris Daniel on California’s KMJ 580 AM, Ziegler said Breitbart, who for years served as an assistant editor at the Drudge Report, had privately confided that his efforts to post negative articles about Obama at the popular site were blocked by Drudge.

“Matt Drudge was totally in the tank for Obama, and he blocked Andrew Breitbart from doing anything about it,” said Ziegler, who directed the documentary film Media Malpractice about the 2008 election. “Andrew told me about this. The evidence is overwhelming, and I can and will prove it.” (read more)

Below is an excerpt from John Zeigler at Media Malpractice. Go there to read his entire opinion on both the Breitbart “Vetting” Tapes, the impact they will NOT have, and more interestingly the entire construct of the Drudge Psy-ops.

John Zeigler – I found it fascinating that Breitbart said at CPAC that, thanks to these tapes, Obama would finally be “vetted” in 2012 and that his web site is now starting a “vetting series.” Not only have I made the only major movie about how Obama was indeed not properly reported on in 2008, but I had many communications at that time with Breitbart about how his attempts to foster that examination were blocked, shockingly, by none other than alleged conservative Matt Drudge.

It became very clear to me during the 2008 primary season that, for whatever reason, the Drudge Report was completely in the tank for the Obama campaign. When I addressed this concern with Breitbart, he readily agreed and admitted great frustration at what was happening. He even revealed that on several occasions he had tried to post prominent “negative” stories about Obama on the site but had seen Drudge take the highly unusual step of not only moving them down the page but also taking them off the site completely.

On some occasions, Andrew told me that Drudge even totally cut off his ability to update the web page and completely stopped linking to Breitbart’s site (which he interpreted as Drudge’s way of reminding him who the boss was).

There were many examples of this remarkable pro-Obama bias, but I will offer up just a few here as proof (you can have fun finding more on your own at the easily accessible Drudge archives on the bottom right hand portion of his site).

On February 18, 2008, Michelle Obama famously told two different crowds that Barack’s success running for president was the first time in her “adult life” that she was “really proud” of her country. When Breitbart ended his shift that evening the story dramatically led the Drudge Report. However, just a few minutes later when Drudge himself stepped in, the link (along with two others charging Obama with plagiarism) was suddenly nowhere to be found. The story quickly died and never reached the level of “common knowledge.”

Then, on March 13, 2008, ABC’s Good Morning America “broke” the story of Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s controversial sermons and close ties to Obama. Almost exactly twenty fours later, while most of the media was feverishly building a firestorm which would require Obama to do three emergency damage-control network interviews that night, the story was somehow completely absent from Drudge’s incredibly influential news site. Instead, the headline was inexplicably about how the Super Delegates were starting to break towards Obama.

This was not some sort of fluke. The Rev. Wright story was barely ever seen on Drudge and, on the rare occasions when it did get posted, it was astonishingly muted. Andrew and I both felt strongly at the time that Drudge was providing “cover” for the mainstream media to downplay this bombshell. After all, if even the “right wing” narrative maker Drudge felt the story wasn’t a big deal, then why should they aggressively cover a story for which they clearly had no appetite?

Any doubt that Drudge was heavily favoring Obama ended in May around the critical Indiana primary.

The week before, on May 1st, Obama was tanking in the polls there thanks to Rev. Wright’s explosive National Press Club event. I sent Andrew a link to a story on this phenomenon (moments after he had sent me an article about how Drudge “hearts” Obama) and he linked it on Drudge. Literally moments, later Drudge stepped into the website and took the link off the page, keeping its extremely pro-Obama narrative strong. (For the record, this exchange is documented in one of many instant message sessions with Andrew, which I kept at that time because I was starting to sense the profound implications of what was happening here.)

When Obama ended up losing a very tight race in Indiana (despite the best efforts of Gary Indiana’s pro-Obama mayor who, as the Drudge archive indicates, did his very best to pretend that Obama may have actually won the crucial state until deep into the night), Drudge declared the future president to be “The Nominee” just hours later. The mainstream media quickly followed suit, and the rest is obviously history.

Breitbart never really knew why Drudge took this obvious pro-Obama position (interestingly, he told me they had only spoken twice in the approximately ten years he had help run the site at that point). He theorized that perhaps Drudge had become too “Europeanized,” but I personally concluded that Drudge simply knew that having Obama around would be fantastic for business. Breitbart never wanted to divulge any of this publicly out of respect for (and fear of) of Drudge, but the Andrew I knew would have wanted people to know about this after he was gone.

This entire episode created enormous tension between me and Breitbart (I allude to it generally in my movie, but without the details out of respect for my friendship with Andrew) and sowed the seeds for its ultimate demise. I know that Andrew felt an awful lot of quilt or regret for what happened during this period and I am confident he thought these new tapes may help him rewrite history.

Sadly, that is not going to happen and conservatives should understand the full reality of this situation, not only to comprehend the past, but to realize what we are up against in the future.

John Ziegler (visit entire perspective)

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