When BBC journalist and 2011 Nieman Fellow Philippa Thomas wrote recently about a talk given by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P.J. Crowley at MIT, little did she know that her blog post would have far-reaching results. Her report on Crowley’s surprisingly candid comments about the treatment of alleged WikiLeaks whistleblower U.S. Army Pfc. Bradley Manning ultimately led to Crowley’s resignation. As Thomas writes, “This was a story that started online and only subsequently spread to traditional media outlets.”