Madonna ConstantinePhoto: AP
As we never would have guessed, the Columbia noose scandal has blown up in the pages of the tabloids. It’s worth the ink, but we couldn’t help but notice the different ways the New York papers have handled the role of Madonna Constantine’s rival professor, Suniya Luthar (who is Indian). The two had some professional scuffles that resulted in Constantine filing a defamation suit against Luthar in May. The Daily News mentions her name in its main article, making it clear, though, that Luthar was “not a suspect” in a police investigation of the noose incident. The Times was even vaguer, protecting Luthar from the ire of readers by leaving her name out of its coverage entirely. Since police say there are no “persons of interest” in the case so far, both papers seem to reason, why drag Luthar’s name through the mud? For salaciousness’ sake, of course! That’s why the Post devoted an entire article to the Luthar-Constantine spat, implied that Luthar was being questioned suspiciously in the headline, and ran a giant picture of her across page six of the paper. We love Post logic: Why only have one person’s life be traumatized when you could have two?
