Spitzer and the media

An interesting column about how the media overlooked some of Eliot Spitzer's behavior as he was built into the "white knight" of Wall Street. Here's another example of the same logic. A good perspective I had been overlooking.
Also, I spoke with some of you about the issue of a political spouse standing by a fallen figure (and some of you caught my comment in my Facebook status update). I found this piece quite persuasive.

Gossip Gone Too Far?

Page Six in the NY Post is under fire from some readers and competitors for what appears to be a note about raping a woman who criticized the gossip roundup.
Not known for its subtlety or responsibility, the page seems to have gone a step further than it has before.
What do you think of the reference? Would you have read it as a rape threat? Does the page have a different responsibility (to its subjects and its audience) than straight news pages would? Do scandals like this actually help it by beefing up notoriety (i.e., "there's no such thing as bad publicity")?