I suspect that a lot of leftist reporters would go ahead and publish this propaganda as factual, if they were not aware that the patriotic blogosphere might as a result succeed in destroying their careers.
Dan Rather lost his job. Hillary clinton can no longer spread verifiable lies and order the evidence to be buried. Editors have been publicly embarrassed and are unlikely to want to repeat the experience.
Who wants to become famous for a juicy atrocity story, and then get shot down by hundreds of bloggers for failing to check the most elementary facts, or even for lying?
A number of us went to considerable lengths to suggest precisely that, via the Reporter's Guide and other methods. The dearth of fawning WSII coverage by the old media (which the leftists have been whining about most energetically) may well have been the payoff.