In the early days of the Internet, Drudge’s conservative ideology — while a factor, no doubt, in his pimping of Clinton sex scandals — was less important than his skill at doing what stuck-up traditional news sites didn’t do, which was playing up all the “Holy (Bleep)!” headlines and ignoring the boring-but-you-need-to-know-this stock-in-trade of the 1990s newspaper.

But in recent years other news aggregators have come along — the popular Huffington Post is Exhibit A — and so in order to “stay on top,” as Carr headlines it, Drudge has refined his editorial skills, and what he does best now is cleverly promote stories that dovetail with the right-wing media barricade erected by his pal Rush Limbaugh, other radio talkers, the Fox News Channel that went from 0 to 60 during the Drudge years, and nascent political groups like the Tea Party or Glenn Beck’s 9-12 Project (all of whom keep Drudge’s traffic high by talking up what they read there.)

How Drudge “stays on top”? Pandering on race, right-wing paranoia

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Erik Wemple was the longtime editor of the Washington City Paper, where he routinely ripped the Washington Post various new assholes, as is the job of any good alt-weekly editor. A little over a year ago, Wemple left the WCP to join TBD.com, the hot new startup that would revolutionize online local news in DC.

Washington Post’s Harshest Critic Goes to Work for Washington Post

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Last year, Matt Drudge brought on Joe Curl, a former White House correspondent for the Washington Times. Now, Charles Hurt –- a Washington Times columnist and former D.C. bureau chief for the New York Post -– has also joined the website’s small staff, according to a person familiar with the move.

Matt Drudge Hires Washington Times Columnist Charles Hurt

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Do we have to accept that overhead ratio of one editor for every four contributors in stone? It has been the model for the past, but hyperlocal media is a new evolution in editorial, one that often includes numerous community voices. Hyperlocal editors need the ability to manage as many community voices as their site can attract, without being bound by 1:4 restrictions. How can they do this?

What’s the Right Ratio of Editors to Contributors in Hyperlocal?

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More than two-thirds of respondents — and it’s worth noting that only 26 [Huffington Post] bloggers actually completed the survey — said they believe some portion of the $315 million purchase price is rightfully theirs. Somewhat narrower majorities said they support the idea of a pay system based on a flat rate per blog post, and feel bloggers ought to undertake some sort of collective action to push for it … But the bloggers’ support for a strike is thin: Fewer than a third said they plan to cut back on blogging now, and only two said they plan to stop entirely.

Survey Finds Huffpo Bloggers Want to Get Paid, But…

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In partnership with StockTwits, a real-time, social idea network for the investing community, CNNMoney will feature editorial content from StockTwits bloggers, sell advertising across the blog network and share revenue. The StockTwits Blog Network brings together market professionals on a real-time financial platform where they can share in-depth, actionable financial ideas.

CNNMoney Launches New Site Design

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[Huffington Post managing editor Jai Singh's] departure follows a number of others. When AOL acquired HuffPo for $315 million earlier this year, it lost that company’s chief executive (Eric Hippeau), as well as its top sales guy (Greg Coleman), although for known reasons (AOL chief Tim Armstrong once fired Coleman from an earlier job, so Coleman’s departure was expected). There were the 900 layoffs two months ago, which included the loss of experienced editorial talent. And then the string of departures from Engadget, long considered one of the leading examples of quality in AOL’s portfolio — from editor Paul Miller, who slammed the “AOL way” on the way out, to top editor Joshua Topolsky and at least six others.

Why AOL’s exodus is worrying, and time is running out

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