In his Nov. 30 column, Newsmax president and CEO Christopher Ruddy declared that the “mainstream media” is" simply out of touch with ordinary Americans" and that “the major media establishment lives in a bubble.” Ruddy's evidence for this: The media criticized Sarah Palin for reading Newsmax.

Ruddy touts the popularity of Newsmax's website, claiming it “has reached close to 4 million unique visitors monthly.” He also promotes Newsmax's magazine, asserting that it has “a monthly readership of more than 800,000.” But note that he said “readership,” not paid circulation, which is the standard accepted metric for measuring a magazine's reach. Newsmax has previously indicated that it believes the magazine is read by four people for every copy sold, which is apparently where it gets that inflated “readership” number.

Ruddy writes: “The bottom line is this: Those who live in the Big Media Bubble can't comprehend the appeal of Newsmax -- or Sarah Palin.” He's got us there. We have trouble grasping the appeal of a website that has published columns advocating a military coup against President Obama, calling for a "tenting" of the White House, blaming the Holocaust Museum shooting on Obama, and embracing the birther conspiracy.

Ruddy also touted how Palin's book “shot to the top of the best-seller lists, reportedly selling 700,000 copies in the first week after its Nov. 17 release.” He fails to mention that a not-insignificant amount of those copies are the likely result of below-cost loss-leader deals from online retailers -- including Newsmax's own $4.97 deal for the book.