According to the American reporter-blogger Ben Smith the British press has its own distinctive role in the American mediasphere:
It's a bit of a joke among American political operatives that the best way to inject into the bloodstream a story too thin for American reporters to believe is to give it to a British reporter, who will torque it up for Drudge, whose link will drive cable news.
It's not just the tabloids either. Smith's note is in reference to a largely fictional Guardian story about Sarah Palin. (Next time you read a British columnist bemoaning the degradation of the American public sphere, refer them to their own news pages.)
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