"For Women in Weiner Scandal, Indignity Lingers," is the self-fulfilling headline of a long-awaited New York Times news article that begins, "Customers taunt Lisa Weiss."
Alas, it's not just customers who are doing the taunting. The Times piles on:
Little unites the five women whose online relationships with Mr. Weiner have become public. Some were self-confident political admirers; some were struggling and insecure, flattered by attention from a man in power. Some fled publicity after his downfall; some sought it out. (Ms. Weiss even appeared on "Inside Edition.")
The Times doesn't say whether Ms. Weiss called "Inside Edition" unsolicited to appear on the program, or whether someone from the program called her first, in which case she wouldn't have been seeking out publicity, she would have just been responding to an inquiry from a television program. In any event, it's a double standard. The Times doesn't fault Ms. Weiss for talking to its own reporter, but it portrays her as a publicity hound for daring to speak to a reporter for another outlet. If the person in the news had declined to speak to the press, the paper would probably describe her as "reclusive," especially if she had a lot of money.