Critiquing the Press

Question to Howard Kurtz "Critiquing the Press" - Monday, Sept. 11, 2006.
Carrboro, N.C.: "On 'Reliable Sources' yesterday Emily Rooney made a statement that drove me nuts. In your discussion of 'Path to 9/11' she stated (paraphrasing here) that it was just entertainment and no one should take it seriously. It is talk like this that drives the left blogosphere nuts about the mainstream media. This is not just entertainment! Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter are not just putting on a dog and pony show that no one really takes seriously. They have a strong influence on a significant chunk of people in this country. They are allowed to make a series of outrageous and inflammatory statements and when called on it they claim people have no sense of humor and the MSM just rolls their eyes as if they couldn't even be bothered to respond. With 36% of the country believing in conspiracy theories about 9/11 and another significant chunk still convinced Saddam was involved, isn't it time that the MSM took starting taking these commentators as major contributors to the political dialog in this country?"