The Drudge Report and the "Big Lie"

Independent media does not pretend to be objective or neutral. Therefore Independent media practices complete transparency. However, there are some sites that are not objective but still produce inaccurate stories. Matt Drudge for example, is infamous for his lack of factual information. However, mainstream media outlets still link to him. Although claiming that his information is 80% accurate, he still seems to have a hold over the mainstream. One of Drudge’s exclusives was about Bill Clinton fathering his love child. After this story was published, mainstream media went insane over the story, many not even bothering to fact check it. Yes, Drudge is partly to blame for an inaccurate story, but journalists should be skeptical, and in this story, skepticism was seriously lacking.

Has anybody ever told you something so extraordinary that you did not even bother to question it? You just believed it, thinking to yourself “This has to be true because why would anyone ever lie about that?” This idea is called “The Big Lie,” a concept that means that the bigger a lie is, the more someone is likely to believe it.

Now as I reflect on this concept of “the big lie” I look back at history and think about how the big lie has been used to brainwash so many people. Infamously used by Hitler to convince people that the Jewish race should be exterminated, another example relating to the news is Father Coughlin, a radical Roman Catholic priest who used the radio as a way to circulate his ideas regarding anti-semitism.  His ideas influenced the social and political landscape at the time (the 1920s and 1930s) because radio was becoming a part of everyday life. Father Coughlin stereotyped Jews and said they were “traffickers” in gold. He preyed on people’s emotions so that they would trust his words. He also blatantly said jews were communist. This was a time where people were really frightened of communism. This is an example of Father Coughlin using the big lie and fear to persuade people into believing him. Father Coughlin and this idea of the big lie is explained in Rodger Streitmatter’s Mightier Than the Sword in Chapter 8.

Furthermore, Father Coughlin’s radio talk show is an embarrassment to the journalism field. It does everything that a journalist should not do. Instead of educating the public, it used the public and deceived it. Although the Drudge Report is also to blame for inaccurate information, it does not try to deceive people into believing the information. Thus, The Drudge Report is transparent in its inaccuracies.