Yeah I hate Gawker as much as the next person but I did learn in the piece on the Rob Ford saga I posted yesterday -- no link, phone -- that being amoral Gawker had a lot of leeway and their breaking of the story directly allowed the Toronto Star to run a real, sources story under the cover of legal protection. So that's interesting.
No, that's erosive. It's also covered heavily in Ryan Holiday's Trust Me I'm Lying as "Trading up the Chain." Here's the thing: Drug abuse by mayors is nothing new. the difference is, back when we had a real 4th estate, shit happened in a logical, defensible matter. Allegations are made, cops investigate, justice is served. Under the Gawker model, allegations are made, pageviews are clicked, mud is slinged, lather rinse repeat.