Boston Herald duo take swipe at Jill Carroll

Classy...

NEW YORK Okay, it's not meant to be Pulitzer-level journalism, but Boston Herald columnists Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa may have set a new low in their report today on an attempt to interview Jill Carroll, the Christian Science Monitor reporter held hostage in Iraq for nearly three months earlier this year after watching the murder of her driver. Carroll is now a fellow at the Shorenstein Center at Harvard University.

The column item on the former hostage opened this way: "Being held hostage in Iraq can catapult a gal from a pedestrian UMass pedigree to the hallowed halls of Harvard. But it also apparently makes one rather full of oneself!"

It seems that a local Fox TV reporter spotted the very low-profile Carroll in a pub and chatted her up. She was friendly enough until he asked her to talk about her post-Iraq life. Imagine this: She did not agree to a TV interview. “No,” said Jill (rather "snootily," as they claimed). “I’m not doing any press.” And then she did not respond to the Herald pair's email query.

They ended the item with "File Under: A Captivating Gal."