The writer says what's what, and everybody else listens. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
Editorial control helps ensure a certain level of quality and consistency.
But the editor's hegemony over the communication process is under assault on the Web. Despite efforts by big media conglomerates to stifle it, two-way communication is much more powerful online than in print. On a basic level, I get more email from a single Big Picture column than I received letters in my entire print journalism career. Depending on what the email says, it can really knock your arrogance quotient down a peg or two. Despite the threat to journalistic egos, smart sites embrace this two-way communication and structure their offerings to take advantage of it.