Yes. The majority of people don't watch any news, much less Fox (they win at ratings but they are the only right leaning outlet so, 2 vs 1). There are a ton of voters whose only research for an election, is to watch the debates. People pay far more attention to what the politicians say during election, than what is said about them by TV pundits.
Also, if you recall, even though she was mathematically eliminated early, she ran hard from there, getting almost as many delegates as Obama did. If she had gotten out early on these stories, she absolutely could have won. It was a huge tactical error to avoid the topics I mentioned. To be fair, nobody really knew how to run against a black candidate that was not a single issue candidate. So, her timidity may have seemed warranted, but in the end it lost her the primary.