Can public outcry of the media really make a difference?

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/12/201012923712801607.html

There is a rumor that An Irainian women, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who had been sentenced to death has been by the government for committing adultery, has been freed because of public outcry. The international media responds with shock. The European Union had previously called the law of sentencing a woman to death for committing adultery "barbaric" in a previous situation where the execution caused much public outcry. There have been photographs released suggesting that the woman has been released from her sentence, however it is not yet clear.