Anyone whose ever been linked from the Drudge Report knows there are a lot of readers on that site. And “a lot” is an understatement. Several media pundits are suggesting Drudge is now so widely read that it single-handedly caused the recent stock market sell-off.

U.S. News & World Report senior writer James Pethokoukis was the first to wonder aloud. Then ABC News contributor Michael Malone expanded on the idea. Here’s what Malone wrote:

On the really big breaking stories, especially the ones still emerging, Drudge will even post a flashing siren on the screen . . . and you better believe every journalist in America notices. So do a lot of other people: the Drudge Report can get 20 million hits per day, and is currently running more than 4 billion hits per year.

All of this is back story to what Pethokoukis thinks may have happened on Tuesday. It seems that former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan gave a speech in Hong Kong on Sunday in which he said, reasonably, that this being one of the longest economic expansions in recent years inevitably certain countervailing forces were growing that would inevitably lead us into the next recession . . . Not exactly earth-shattering. A lot of people are saying the same thing . . . Indeed, the story was so unthrilling that it appears only AP covered it . . . And, as you might expect, it produced little more than a shrug from the financial markets.

But that's when Drudge stepped in. For no obvious reason, he decided to link to the two day old AP story. He then attached one of his classic scare headlines: "Greenspan warns of likely U.S. recession."

The headline's play - complete with flashing siren - crosses the line if you're The New York Times or any other rational newspaper. Does the Drudge Report bear any responsibility to be more careful with its words when so many people are reading? Fat chance, since what made it popular in the first place is being so unwieldy.

Drudge writes headline for its audience, everyone else be damned. So the main question is whether the readers of Drudge’s headline feel fooled. Do they feel it was the right play for a two-day old headline about a rather inane comment?

Will the fooled reader be more careful before reacting next time?

On the contrary, next time run to the market faster to sell! If the pundits are right, then now you know to be concerned whenever Drudge posts a negative word about the economy with a big siren. Worry not because there’s anything wrong with the economy, but because other people are reading. A lot of other people.