From Journalism.co.uk:

Even a local paper that is not necessarily read by the whole community will see its goodness ‘filter’ out across the whole community, Greenslade added.

Newspapers, for example, fulfill a function in pushing councils hard and pointing out problems with road safety, he said.

Again (and again, and again): it’s not the newspaper that’s important, its the function you are defending. If a blog can do it cheaper, faster, and with more community interaction, why not have a blog do it?