Washington Post Style editor killed gossip piece on New Orleans madam, columnist says

A Washington Post Style editor killed a story on a New Orleans madam who alleged she arranged trysts for Louisiana senator David Vitter (R-LA), a Post gossip columnist says.

Post gossip guru Amy Argetsinger arranged an interview with a madam in New Orleans after Vitter admitted his name appeared on the phone records of a DC madam. Speaking to the Washington City Paper's Erik Wemple in an article published Friday, she said her editor, Steve Reiss, "spiked the story on sourcing grounds."

Reiss was aware that everyone else was writing about her but said that we cant use that as an excusein essence, that the Post had to take the higher moral ground, Argetsinger said in an email.

The next day, she said she found an article on the Post's website which reported the same allegations in an Associated Press story.

The DC gossip maven wasn't mad, according to the interview.

I guess I was arguing, look, the Posts already tainted here, she said -- but claims the the Post's executive editor Len Downie agreed with Weiss.

The tidbit, which appeared in a larger story about the Post, was first caught by BigHeadDC, a Washington, D.C. blog.



