A newspaper that once ran the headline “Ike ‘Beats’ Tina to Death” after the death of Ike Turner cannot be expected to adhere to basic ethical standards. But the New York Post may have hit a low point by putting screenshots of the Erin Andrews video on its front page.
The cover of Tuesday’s New York Post blares the headline “Peephole Outrage,” with a still frame of the hidden camera video taken of the ESPN reporter. An online story titled “ESPN HOTTIE ERIN ANDREWS IN PEEP SHOCKER” includes an actual photo gallery of still images from the video.
The very first word in the story is “sexy,” which is a good indication of the tone of the piece. The story also describes Andrews as a “sideline siren.”
Reaction has been extremely critical towards The Post. Sports Illustrated writer Jon Heyman wrote on Twitter that he has canceled his New York Post subscription. SNY’s Chris Carlin called the move “just classless.” Newsday’s Neil Best notes that “using the illegally obtained material – on the front page, no less! – is way, way over the line of good taste and good judgment.”
In addition to the New York Post, FOX News — a corporate sibling of The Post — and CBS have both aired either still images or small excerpts of the video during reports on the story.
