New age pamphleteers?

Adventures of Chester points to comments by Oliver North in a Fox News letter. (Emphasis his.)

There is a lesson in all of this, and not just for CNN but for all the media. Eason Jordan's disparaging duplicity wasn't exposed by the barons of broadcasting or the potentates of print, but by "amateurs" — bloggers — the same "unwashed masses" who brought down Dan Rather. These e-mailing, web-surfing, call-'em as you see-'em bloggers are the electronic equivalent of the pamphleteers who brought about our revolution. Today they "pass the word" faster than an official spokesman can draft a denial. They are the small "d" democrats of the new "news business" — and more believable to many than what is presented on the tube or in the paper. To the bloggers it's clear that if Dan Rather worked for CNN he'd still have a job. Apparently the network that bills itself as "the most trusted name in news" has even lower standards of proof than CBS.

Anyone want to take bets on how long it takes the media to accept this obvious reality?

I'm going to have to do some research into "pamphleteers". I would have used the terminology "modern day Paul Reveres" myself.