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Aware of Drudge's ability to drive the day's news agenda, the show's marketers e-mail him transcripts of upcoming segments for which they want advance buzz -- be it one that includes GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, a Mormon, saying he "can't imagine anything more awful than polygamy" or rapper Cam'ron saying he wouldn't help cops catch a serial killer because it would hurt his business and violate his "code of ethics."

The idea is to get reporters, who might throw away a self-serving network publicity release, to chase the item on the Drudge Report because it has "more of a news aura," explained a CBS executive who spoke anonymously. Some journalists, the executive said, might write the story simply to avoid getting beaten by someone else.

"By promoting on the Drudge Report, we raise the stakes," he said. "Drudge is like a megaphone in the cyber-world. Other news organizations and websites take their cue from him."

CNN Iraq reporter Michael Ware can unhappily relate to that phenomenon.

On April 1, in one of his "exclusives," Drudge accused Ware of heckling presidential candidate Sen. John McCain during a Baghdad news conference. The alleged incident occurred after Ware, a week earlier, had challenged the Arizona Republican's assertion that there were neighborhoods in the Iraqi capital safe enough for a stroll.

Drudge, in his five-paragraph report, quoted an unidentified official as saying that the CNN reporter was mocking McCain and laughing at him. "I've never witnessed such disrespect," the official said.

The liberal group Media Matters for America tracked the echo of Drudge's report through the pro-war blogosphere, where the reporter was variously called "a blatant advocate of defeat," "unfit to cover the war" and "a shill for terrorists."

Ware insisted on the air that he did not heckle, mock or laugh at McCain. He said he did not even ask a question -- a position supported by CNN video clips. Still, Drudge did not retract or clarify his single-sourced account. Nor did most of his admiring bloggers, though several did later express skepticism. Said one: "I wonder if Drudge got 'April fooled.' "

Even when accuracy is not an issue, some journalists remain concerned about Drudge's influence.

Mackenzie Warren, who oversees the News-Press website in Fort Myers, Fla., says the Drudge Report gave unwarranted national bounce to a day-old story that the paper determined was barely newsworthy.