Criticism of Steubenville Rape Media Coverage By CNN
"But CNN, the flagship of 24-hour news, has also become the target of widespread online outrage for its extended coverage following the verdict. In various segments, respected CNN anchor Candy Crowley discussed the verdict with her team of reporters and analysts, using words such as “tragedy” to describe the impact – not on the young victim – but on the lives of the two convicted boys
Reporter Poppy Harlow said, it was “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 believe their life fell apart.”
The discussion continued along these lines, including legal analysis of the permanent requirement to register as sex offenders. There were no comments from the victim or from rape advocacy groups.
Within a day at least three online petitions reacting to CNN’s coverage sprang up, calling it “awful” and calling for redress. By Tuesday the petitions had gathered some 200,000 signatures. The verdict that the judge handed down was justice – not a "tragedy," one petition reads, adding, “the tragedy was the rape. Please apologize and make this right.” "
The media is supposed to remain unbiased. This is partially why I think that print journalism is truly the only way to remain unbiased, because there is less of a chance that the reporter will drop a personal opinion into the article if it is a hard news article or feature, because the editor will spot it and remove it. The television news anchors and reporters are more likely to make side comments as well as personal commentary on their feelings toward a story. A facial expression or tone of voice can also be leading in a way that shows a bias.
Would I be writing this blog post if the media had shown a bias toward the victim instead of remaining completely objective? Probably not. That's a whole different blog post all together though. The fact that it seemed like there was more caring about these "poor 16-year-old football stars whose futures were ruined" as opposed to an applause at justice being served in the case that rapists are being put away for their heinous crime is just ludicrous.
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