Drudge Report Blamed for Declining US Dollar, Increase in Stupid Hats

Really Politico? This is the best explanation you could come up with? That the decline of the US Dollar is because Matt Drudge is linking to stories (not writing them, mind you, just LINKING TO THEM) on his site, The Drudge Report?  Yes, shoot the messenger. Surely it has nothing to do with our massive national debt, bloated government, or lack of a clean plan of how the US will really reshape its economy.

And don't call me Shirley!

On Tuesday, Matt Drudge ran a headline about the weakening U.S. dollar on his website, Drudgereport.com. In and of itself, that would be unremarkable, except that it was the 18th time Drudge had posted a link to a story about the weak dollar this month.  And October was only 20 days old.

Clearly, Matt Drudge has developed a fascination with the declining U.S. dollar.  “He’s fixated on it,” said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. “There’s no question that Drudge can alter what people are paying attention to.”  Market watchers say it’s unlikely that Drudge is actually moving the currency markets with his relentless attention.

“I don’t think that anyone who seriously trades currencies reads The Drudge Report before making important buy or sell decisions,” said Chris Roush, a professor of business journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

But Drudge does have the ability to put news items on the radar screen of major media outlets and political figures in Washington. And other people are paying attention to Drudge, too: A source close to the U.S. national security community said that Drudge’s link to a story in the [London] Independent earlier this month instantly grabbed the attention of senior American officials.

Zeroing in on the dollar's decline - Eamon Javers - POLITICO.com