The blogs, and some of their admirers, are already taking credit for the termination of Howell Raines. From the Wall Street Journal: For the past few weeks, coverage on the major networks and many big regional newspapers has waned, but outlets like Slate, Jim Romenesko's Media News, and bloggers like Mickey Kaus have been chipping away relentlessly at all Mr. Blair's news that wasn't fit to print.
   Chipping away: that gets to the heart of the matter. Print media - the New York Observer, Howard Kurtz of the Post, and Seth Mnookin of Newsweek -- is still much more powerful than the weblogs. But, again, the weblogs have taken a story that could easily have fizzled out, and kept it alive. Any carnivorous reporter knows to hammer away at a big story, encouraging new sources, and gradually turning the outrageous into the obvious. It's called a running story. Apart from, say, a Watergate, few stories are big enough to warrant continuous attention from established media. But webloggers are built for the marathon.
The Times' shakeup is a victory for the little guy [Wall Street Journal]