CNN Defends Rapists

[rpgdemon]

This is really pretty terrible. There is a petition demanding an apology. Unsure where I can link to that will not give CNN pageviews, aside from the petition.

I figured this would be the sort of thing that should be shared.

https://www.change.org/petitions/cnn-apologize-on-air-for-sympathizing-with-the-steubenville-rapists

I'm not really back, so much as sickened by this, and feeling like I should spread the word.

[Bells]

Dude, i understand that this issue is very serious... but a bit more information would not be a bad thing you know? a little context, a little insight on this issue... the link you provided is as barebones as it can possible get.

Here, no clicks for CNN, but a lot more information...

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/cnn-steubenville-rape-poppy-harlow-144458279.html

Doesn't change much of anything... but information is never a bad thing. much less context related...

Also, this is not the first time an imbecile "Corresponded" said similar stuff on CNN...

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/02/19/428661/cnn-contributor-dana-loesch-defends-virginia-state-sponsored-rape-bill-as-no-different-than-consensual-sex/

As always, On Tv "experts" saying their stuff live to generate buzz and attract emotional views and clicks left and right, quite often turn out to show themselves as uneducated dumbasses in issues that demand much more thought than they showed to have.

[Magus]

Tracing through the various articles referring to various other articles to find the original complaint has led me inevitably to a Gawker article, which biases me somewhat. But, anyway:

One way to report on the outcome of a rape trial is to discuss the legal ramifications of the decision or the effect the proceedings may have on the life of the victim. Another angle reporters can take is to publicly worry about the "promising future" of the convicted rapists, now less promising as a direct result of their choice to rape someone.

Reporters at CNN today chose the latter technique. General correspondent Poppy Harlow, speaking to anchor Candy Crowley, had this to say about the verdict:

"Incredibly difficult, even for an outsider like me, to watch what happened as these two young men that had such promising futures, star football players, very good students, literally watched as they believed their lives fell apart...when that sentence came down, [Ma'lik] collapsed in the arms of his attorney...He said to him, 'My life is over. No one is going to want me now.' Very serious crime here, both found guilty of raping the sixteen-year-old girl at a series of parties back in August."

CNN also played footage of both convicted rapists tearfully apologizing in court. Harlow went on to describe in detail an emotional exchange between Ma'lik Richmond, one of the defendants, and his estranged father.

Candy asked Paul Callan, a legal expert, to elaborate on the future of the two young men, stressing their youth and emotional vulnerability.

"Sixteen-year-olds just sobbing in court, regardless of what big football players they are, they still sound like sixteen-year-olds...what's the lasting effect, though, on two young men being found guilty in juvenile court of rape, essentially?"

"The most severe thing with these young men is being labeled as registered sex offenders. That label is now placed on them by Ohio law...That will haunt them for the rest of their lives. Employers, when looking up their background, will see that they're registered sex offenders. When they move into a new neighborhood and somebody goes on the Internet, where these things are posted, neighbors will know that they are registered sex offenders."

Yes, that is how the sex offender registry works. People who commit acts of sexual violence (rape, for example) and are convicted in a court of law are required to register with the national sex offender public registry, so that future employers and neighbors might do things like check said registry.

For readers interested in learning more about how not to be labeled as registered sex offenders, a good first step is not to rape unconscious women, no matter how good your grades are. Regardless of the strength of your GPA (weighted or unweighted), if you commit rape, there is a possibility you may someday be convicted of a sex crime. This is because of your decision to commit a sex crime instead of going for a walk, or reading a book by Cormac McCarthy. Your ability to perform calculus or play football is generally not taken into consideration in a court of law. Should you prefer to be known as "Good student and excellent football player Trent Mays" rather than "Convicted sex offender Trent Mays," try stressing the studying and tackling and giving the sex crimes a miss altogether.

It's perfectly understandable, when reporting on a rape trial, to discuss the length and severity of the sentence; it is less understandable to discuss the end of two convicted rapists' future athletic and academic careers as if it were somehow divorced from the laws of cause and effect. Their dreams and hopes were not crushed by an impersonal, inexorable legal system; Mays and Richmond raped a girl and have been sentenced accordingly. Had they not raped her, they would not be spending at least one year each in a juvenile detention facility.

It is unlikely that Candy Crowley and Poppy Harlow are committed rape apologists; more likely they simply wanted a showy, emotional angle at the close of a messy and sensationalized trial. Since the identity of the victim is protected, and the rapists obliged the camera crews by memorably breaking down and crying in court, they found an angle to match: extremely gifted young men were brought tragically low by... mumblemumblesomething.

That isn't how rape trials ought to be discussed by professional journalists.

Trent Mays and Ma'lik Richmond are not the "stars" of the Steubenville rape trial. They aren't the only characters in a drama playing out in eastern Ohio. And yet a CNN viewer learning about the Steubenville rape verdict is presented with dynamic, sympathetic, complicated male figures, and a nonentity of an anonymous victim, the "lasting effects" of whose graphic, public sexual assault are ignored. Small wonder, then, that anyone would find themselves on the side of these men—these poor young men, who were very good at taking tests and playing sports when they were not raping their classmates.

Here is the original CNN segment:

MvUdyNko8LQ

[shiney]

CNN was happily participating in rape culture and I'm sure they're thinking "What's the big deal?"

[Sifright]

CNN was happily participating in rape culture and I'm sure they're thinking "What's the big deal?"

Probably not even that (in regards to what is the big deal), just rubbing their hands gleefully as they get more attention.

Unless they lose sponsors they will be happy that people are making a 'big deal' out of it, because it gives them money.

[shiney]

I highly doubt they care about journalistic integrity anymore. NPR is where you go to see what's going on in the government. BBC/Al Jazeera for world events. Local stations for news that is relevant to you. FOX/MSNBC is where you go for echo chambers. CNN is where you go if you want to know what's trending on Twitter.

And, apparently, if you're desperate to feel sorry for rapists.

[Sifright]

]I highly doubt they care about journalistic integrity [/B]anymore. NPR is where you go to see what's going on in the government. BBC/Al Jazeera for world events. Local stations for news that is relevant to you. FOX/MSNBC is where you go for echo chambers. CNN is where you go if you want to know what's trending on Twitter.

And, apparently, if you're desperate to feel sorry for rapists.

Indeed, although the BBC has been sliding worryingly to the right over time.

[Japan]

Just going by personal bias I find it difficult to imagine ever feeling sympathy for your average 16 year old football playing male. And I was a 16 year old football playing male.

Like, they're pretty much the least sympathetic group I can think of. That's pure personal bias of course, but it kind of blows my mind that anyone could possibly think of something like a football playing teen rapist as a "victim of the system."

[Bells]

and what do you make of this?

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/19/justice/ohio-steubenville-case/index.html?hpt=us_c2

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

Once again, social media messages are helping to get Steubenville, Ohio, teenagers in trouble, according to authorities.

Once again, speed cams are helping to get drivers in trouble.
Once again, alarms are helping to get bank robbers in trouble.

[Bells]

Yes. Can`t say you are wrong at all about that...

Although completely failing to do so, i THINK CNN`s argument there was something akin to "giving teenage dumbasses unchecked freedom to expose themselves". Which... actually... is not a point at all. I mean, i had full access to internet through all my teen years and i didn`t do stupid bullshit like broadcasting death treats... as did thousands of others. I certainly had my "wanna choooooooooooooooke you" momments, but even then i knew it was stupid and wrong to go that way...

Not like there isn`t anything to the fact that most of us as kids and teens did and said really stupid things, but even the new generation needs to adapt with the times... you have more freedom and more power to express yourself, fine. But you are also more accountable when you choose to use that power.