Huma Abedin Pregnancy: An Editorial Dilemma

politico.com:

The news that Anthony Weiner's wife, Huma Abedin, is pregnant had been known and agonized over in newsrooms, including this one, for more than 24 hours before it was reported on Wednesday night.

It presented one of the toughest editorial dilemmas in recent memory. Abedin was an innocent victim in the story of her husband's inappropriate behavior, and reporting her pregnancy -- that of a 35-year-old woman in her first trimester -- would have added the insult of invasion of medical privacy to the already considerable emotional injuries she's sustained this week. Yet it was a big part of the biggest story of the moment. What's an editor to do?

Read the whole story: politico.com

Comments

[Disdain]

11:12 AM on 06/14/2011

She should have been kept out of it. His disgusting behavior is no excuse to divulge such private info about this woman.

[norepublicanleftbehind]

09:22 PM on 06/13/2011

Princess Di. Know when to stop. Leave her alone.

[norepublicanleftbehind]

09:21 PM on 06/13/2011

Have a little class. She didn't do anything to get herself on the front page. Let her husband be responsible for his action and leave her alone. What's next, going through his childhood?

[Seven Teenatheart]

02:15 PM on 06/13/2011

Please stop writing about this woman. She's got enough on her plate - the last thing I want to see is the media make a very private woman's life into a circus.
It isn't good reading, it isn't ethical, and it isn't kind.

It is freedom of speech - but it'd be nice if that were tempered with some common sense and decency.

[clarendon67]

12:11 PM on 06/13/2011

I have no respect for the news organizations. I do not trust them to report the truth and as far as I am concerned it's like a roll of the dice where they are concerned. There are so many more important stories to report and discuss, yes Weiner lied about his behavior, but one would think he has committed a crime. His behavior was sleazy but the media and the politicians of both parties jumped on it for dear life and are riding it to the bitter end.
Weiner should have been the butt of jokes on late night tv, instead we are treating it like a treasonous offense and stop hounding the man and his wife. I am starting to feel sorry for him when before I only felt he was stupid.

[topkatnc]

08:01 PM on 06/13/2011

I see your point and at times I have felt the same .. And the media .. well I agree .. as for Weiner , he should step down , then and only then will media taper off .. the media causes more problems than they solve .. used to be the other way around .. he might as well get it over with and stop dragging this out .. can't he take a leave of absense or something ? .. I feel really bad for the wife .. she is one beautiful lady .. stunning .. and of course he appreciated and respects her .. (((( eyes rolling ))) ... but the longer he stays in public office the worse this will get .. the only way to slow it down is resign .

[kinogod]

09:50 AM on 06/13/2011

Let me get this post quote straight -- "this has been one of the toughest editorial decisions in recent memory?". That statement alone shows how lost journalism with a small "j" has gotten -- instead of investigating issues that matter, like the phony war in Iraq or the criminal behavior on wall street, small "jays" wring their hands over whether they should or should not continue to ruin this woman's life? Friggin' ridiculous. Who the Heck would wannabe a journalist now in this corporate-funded environment?

[topkatnc]

08:03 PM on 06/13/2011

Spot on . ff .

[folktraveler]

09:32 AM on 06/13/2011

leave her alone

[Gavin Saunders]

09:18 AM on 06/13/2011

No point even equivocating because, as you've recently highlighted, loathesome Martin Bashir loves to blurt this sort of stuff on his lame show.

[JavaManiac]

10:19 PM on 06/12/2011

So, you reported it - and just to twist it a little more - you needed to editorialize it.

Are you done yet?

[realmystical]

10:17 PM on 06/12/2011

Her pregnancy should have been private until she announced it. After all, she only married a Weiner, she didn't know he was a d**k.

[ummm]

09:50 PM on 06/12/2011

Her pregnancy has no bearing on her husband's behavior? Would you say that when Maria Shriver was pregnant with her youngest child it had no bearing on her husband's behavior knowing now that Arnold got someone else pregnant at the same time??

[xlntcat]

03:16 AM on 06/13/2011

Yes, I would say that! Neither wife's pregnancy is relevant to their husband's betrayal of their trust.

[Disdain]

11:16 AM on 06/14/2011

Their respective husbands behavior has nothing to do with them. The media's need to be the first to get as much info on them out as possible is unconscionable.

[Libgirl746]

09:02 PM on 06/12/2011

I had an idea that Palin's followers were as whiny and vindictive as she is. Don't you Palinbots dare put Mrs. Weiner in the same category as Palin and her brood. It's kinda like comparing Palin's intellect ( or lack thereof) to that of the president. Bristol, indeed. As despicable as Weiner's conduct was, his wife is a classy, lady. Leave her alone.

[raker]

05:26 PM on 06/12/2011

This is news worth covering only to people who have no sense of journalistic ethics, people who have space to fill to keep the oldtimers enthralled, and gossip fills those spaces very nicely—that is, this is news only to non-news organizations, i.e., TV news.

This story ultimately isn't about the degradation of Anthony Weiner, its is the degradation of TV news and the dolts who watch thinking they are watching the news.

[txmom54]

12:40 PM on 06/12/2011

"Yet it was a big part of the biggest story of the moment. What's an editor to do?"

Maybe be a true journalist and admit it's only a big story because the media made it to be. Then congratulate Huma on her pregnancy and move on to real news.

[Reading22]

06:47 AM on 06/12/2011

So sad for her.