When News Turns to Gossip

I have a big problem with most of the coverage on the Eliot Spitzer case, which has focused not on Spitzer and the way he will be prosecuted, but on interviews with famous prostitutes, the prostitution ring itself, and most awfully, his wife. I was home last night and was trying to find something on TV, and I turned on MSNBC and watched a whole segment on whether his wife should stay with him or not; I flipped to CNN and found the same story. In fact the Today Show had conservative, moral values, Dr. Laura on the show, and she had this opinion to share,

"When the wife does not focus in on the needs and the feelings, sexually, personally, to make him feel like a man, to make him feel like a success, to make him feel like her hero, he’s very susceptible to the charm of some other woman making him feel what he needs."

Wow. How original. Blame the woman for not making the man feel "manly" enough and giving the husband a free pass to cheat on his wife. I mean that hasn't been said since, oh, forever.

I understand that turning this into a human interest story is making readership go up, but this is just insulting to women everywhere. And nobody's business. Since when is gossip an acceptable form of news coverage (and you can't tell me saying, "Why do otherwise strong women turn to putty in these awful moments and allow themselves to be pushed onstage by political handlers—or yanked by desperate husbands?" isn't gossip.)? News outlets should be covering whether prostitution should be legal, human trafficking, the rights of sex workers, not blaming the victims of this "scandal."

Please, reputable news outlets, leave the gossip to Star Magazine and please do some decent reporting.