Revelations about Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez using steroids, have opened the door for baseless accusations, even among the mainstream media.  Ken Rosenthal is not comfortable with that.

Baseless accusations are an affront not just to journalistic standards, which evolve with new technology, but also an affront to standards of decency.

For all I know, Ortiz might have been a user; the Steroid Era, sadly, has taught us to view all players skeptically. But there is a significant difference between holding such a view privately and accusing a player publicly without any factual basis for such an opinion.

Ten years ago, no reporter would have dared make such a leap, fearing, at minimum, a stern rebuke from an editor and, at worst, a lawsuit. In fact, the difficulty in “naming names” was one problem in reporting on steroids in baseball.

He also makes a point about this “anything goes” mentality emanating from the Internet.
It is an interesting question, and a double-sided one.  Journalists need to be fair to their subjects.  Players should not have their reputations tarnished without proof.

However, journalists are also responsible to their audience.

We know there are more than 100 unrevealed names on a list.  That was when players knew they were going to be tested.  It is reasonable to assume some players stopped using, fearful of even anonymous testing.  It is reasonable to assume some players were already masking their drug use in that initial testing.  This is a relevant issue.

If someone drops twenty pounds of muscle and stops hitting for power in this era, it is irresponsible to skewer them without evidence.  But, it is also irresponsible not to acknowledge the possibility.  That failure is why most baseball reporting on the issue has been reactive rather than proactive.

As far as this stemming from the mysterious Internet and blogs, it is not.  Steroid speculation comes from baseball fans.  It is what people are discussing.  Blogs are merely a more passionate, more accessible reflection of it.