my first instinct is the nancy guthrie kidnapping/whatever it is, heard there was ransoms sent demanding 'crypto' i assume thats bitcoin or monero if criminal has any brain.
so could be relevant for that.
also id be interested to see what other article the author has written in regards to this general topic..

and how the 'public relations' is received depend on the audience. privacy advocates could interpret coverage of this topic as positive, if it highlights privacy aspects of the asset.
to the average person, i still think this would be viewed as negative pr. im assuming the article will contain references to dark market purchases, will almost certainly mention silk road, and various ransomware/ person ransoms and scams.
everyone hates scammers, like LEGIT scammers.

I guess i would say this is status quo, they are framing a particular open source monetary network as dangerous, and criminally adjacent.

but yes anyone got a paywall free link