Most-Read Blogger Gives Up Deadlines

#311: Who?  Kevin Drum @ Mother Jones

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First, the good news: Drum announced he's not giving up blogging, just the pressure of a salaried journalist (he may be headed for Substack).  Plus, his illness is under control for now.

The bad?  While quality remains, his readers aren't likely to get the Drum quantity they're used to.

My own readership started in 2003 when Drum was "Calpundit".  He then blogged at Washington Monthly, and then on to Mother Jones.  I haven't checked, but I've probably cited his blog more than any other source.  And I've graded him highly over the years:

 * Here's Drum at #3 (behind Krugman and Fallows) on my March 14th, 2014 list of favorite links. 

 * Here's Drum winning my "1st Annual Best Blogger Award" (12/26, 2016), which I didn't continue in 2017 simply because Kevin would've kept on winning.

 * In fact, here he is on Oct. 6th, 2017, in my article "Drum On A Roll".  I refer to him as a "national treasure".

Why is he exceptionally good?  For one thing his Dad was a newspaper reporter? editor? publisher?, in Kansas I believe (I only vaguely remember this from a post several years ago).  And in '81 the younger Drum received a BA in journalism, so he's had the training.  What makes him exceptional is his objectivity--he not only uncovers the story when it's being distorted, but even reports on it when it doesn't agree with his politics.

I'll cite just one triumph.  His work on the link between leaded gasoline and violence.  Pure excellence.  And I'll only mention in passing his magnificent data presentation (charts, graphs, etc.)

The usual disclaimers apply.  I don't always agree with his assessment.  For example, he's written a lot about the need for massive R&D spending to figure out the best way to deal with Climate Change. [The one writer challenging Drum for the #1 spot would be David Roberts whose articles at Vox on Climate were absolutely smashing in their brilliance.  Roberts now has his own newsletter, Volts, to which I subscribe.  All of which is to say that implementation, rather than R&D, is where Climate needs the bigger push.  But, that's a minor matter of degrees.]

Finally, I've read something like 99.9% of what Drum has written over the past 17 years!  And when I think to myself, "OK, let's see what's on tonight...." I often head for Drum's writing.

He leaves Mother Jones at the end of the month.