It's a new world we live in and things aren't going back to the way they were. Old guard establishments can either adapt or get left in the dust.
As bad as it might sound, it's all about page views and eyeballs looking at the product. Writing off Deadspin as a "gossip" website is just indicative of the old way of thinking.
And just because someone is "credentialed" does not lend them credibility. You can go to press boxes around the country, Bryant-Denny included, and find people working less than legitimate news sites that have credentials.
The Lance Armstrong story mostly got ignored because it was a foregone conclusion that he was doping, Armstrong himself is an incredibly unlikable, and most people saw it as a ploy on Armstrong's part. There's also the big factor of the bulk of people not giving two flying flips about cycling since they already know it's one of the dirtiest sports out there.
Football is going to drive the discussion. Any story about it will. America is a junkie needing a fix when it comes to football.
Look at the baseball P.E.D. stuff. The only people really driving that home are old guard sports writers and fans who hang on to the belief that the game is this mythical pure entity. For the most part, people aren't going to get up in an outrage about it.