Paraphrasing Laura McGann paraphrasing Clay Shirkey:
1. The Boston Globe could afford to assign journalists to a story for months, even if their research yielded nothing.
2. The Globe had the money and “institutional force” to take on the Catholic Church.
3. Related to both of the above – the church and other powerful institutions could usually “wait out” a problem until it’s not a problem any more – the Globe was able to tough it out.