Here's the difficulty: Any journalist with the guts to investigate Rossi's influence over the series would be buried under a deluge of .... from Rossi fans all over the world. Then there's the fact that getting anyone to speak on the record about Rossi's power is just about impossible, for the same reason - paddock players are just as unwilling to be buried under a pile of .... as journalists are. Thirdly, getting a straight answer out of Dorna will happen once pigs are spotted flying over the skating rinks of hell (7th circle excepted). Fourthly, such an investigation would lead to a sudden and inexplicable oversubscription of Dorna's press resources, meaning there was no more room in the media center for the journalist who carried it out, and they would regretfully be forced to reject his application for a media pass, or ask him to return the one he had already been issued with (in the past, even Michael Scott, probably the series' most prominent journalist, has had his pass pulled for asking "inappropriate" questions). Dorna, after all, are in charge of media accreditation as well as running the series. Ask Carmelo Ezpeleta whether Valentino Rossi has too much power, and he will tell you that Rossi is a very important rider, but that he is just a rider.
There are only three or four journalists in the paddock who would be able to do such an investigation (in terms of their own connections and political power), and I'm not one of them. Of those who are in a position to do so, there is probably only one who has any interest in doing so, but he has plenty of other fish to fry before he gets to that issue.
My own view is that Rossi wields an awful lot of power in the paddock, but that does not mean he runs the series. He is one of the major factors which dominates the series, but if it's Rossi vs the factories, the factories win, as they still fund the series to a greater extent than Rossi does. So, for example, Rossi wants rid of electronics, but the factories don't, so we won't get rid of electronics, or at least not until the CRT project is stable enough to be able to risk losing a factory or two. However, Rossi wanted Bridgestones, he got Bridgestones. Rossi wants astroturf on the outside of turns, Rossi gets astroturf. Even then, Rossi has allies in the circuits (who also want astroturf because of costs and car racing), and he can offer a concession to the other riders, in pushing for one type of astroturf to be used everywhere, something he is also in favor of.
Rossi is very powerful, but that can be both a good thing and a bad thing. He has been a very strong advocate for rider safety, and a lot of changes have been made which have benefited the riders and the series. When Rossi speaks, the world listens. But Rossi is also a sportsman, which means he will also use whatever leverage he can to gain an advantage for himself, just like every other rider in the paddock, so if he sees an opportunity, he seizes it, and 9 times out of 10, he comes out smelling of roses.
Anyway, as you said, I am just a journalist, and a junior one at that. I try to report things as I see them, but I am neither omniscient nor infallible. You should carefully consider everything I say, and see whether it fits the facts as you know them. My only word of warning to everyone who reads anything in the media is not to let their own prejudices cloud their thinking, or at least, to acknowledge it when they do. That goes to fans of every rider in the paddock, from Valentino Rossi to Casey Stoner, via Nicky Hayden and Jorge Lorenzo, through Toni Elias, Marc Marquez to Louis Rossi.
