Only if the press was fair. It doesn't work for the right.
Because the right is too stupid to utilize the internet regardless of how many times Palin shows them.
In the late 90s I edited a niche site, Off-Road,com, with a greater online presence/readership than NASCAR. We were top 1000 for a while.
Niche market. In the late 90s. Monthly readership 7 figures global.
It can be done easily.