I think it does do more. It ads another degree of accountability to people with power. It might not be much, but it's something. One small anecdote; a developme

I think it does do more. It ads another degree of accountability to people with power. It might not be much, but it's something. One small anecdote; a development in a local suburb is hitting a brick wall because the media has revealed a relationship between the developer and the council. That development was going up on public land without proper oversight or tender. Couple of bigger anecdotes; - Watergate. A president's criminal behaviour was dug up by a newspaper, forcing him to resign. - Vietnam war coverage forced the US to reconsider their attitudes to weapons with high collateral damage, conscription and large scale land wars in general.