Howard Kurtz of The Washington Post (via Today's Papers at Slate) shows just one more example of how the U.S. media is part of the problem of dumbing down debates and why foreign news outlets, such as the Guardian and the BBC, have been on the rise.

Today's Papers: "The WP's Howard Kurtz talks with the Brown University student who asked the lamest question of the Dems' debate last week: Mac or PCs? Turns out the student didn't come up with the zinger, nor did she really want to ask it. A CNN producer foisted it on her. And a CNN spokesperson even copped to it, 'In an attempt to encourage a lighthearted moment in this debate, a CNN producer clearly went too far.' "