I think you're extrapolating too much from a single data point. Any one instance of bad journalism may not be corrected by "little media" but over time, I do think that "little media" is having a profound effect on "big media."

The problem is that "profound effect" allows for great lattitude in interpretation. I'm not enthused about the wonders of being fodder, where the control of the story is firmly in the hands of "big media", and the function of "little media" is to be as pilot-fish under the sharks ("gee, look at all the little fishies herding food to me - isn't that great!")

And it's more than a single data point. Two words: Al Gore.