Courier-Journal faces instant backlash for hyping doctor's 'troubled past' after United beating

Shocking video of a doctor being violently dragged off an overbooked United Airlines flight has dominated news coverage for more than 24 hours -- but readers recoiled from reporting on the passenger's past.

David Dao was removed from a flight late Sunday from Chicago to Louisville, and his hometown Courier-Journal newspaper followed up by reporting on his previous legal troubles.

The Elizabethtown pulmonologist was convicted on drug-related offenses in 2004 related to fraudulent prescriptions and an alleged sexual relationship with a patient, and he regained his medical license in 2015 under certain conditions.

Social media users quickly and strongly criticized the newspaper for reporting details of Dao's past, which many readers found irrelevant to his treatment by the airline and Chicago police.