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CNN Under Fire for Coverage of Steubenville Rape Trial

Mar 19, 2013  •  Post A Comment

CNN has drawn sharp criticism for its coverage of the rape trial in Steubenville, Ohio, with many calling it sympathetic to the two high school football players who were found guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl, reports TVNewser.

More than 100,000 people had signed a petition on Change.org as of this morning (Tuesday, March 19, 2013), demanding that the network "apologize on air for sympathizing with the Steubenville rapists."

According to the petition, CNN’s "coverage of the Steubenville rape trial’s verdict Sunday morning was a complete disgrace and a breach of journalistic ethics. To have three of your personalities blatantly portray the rapists as the victims in this situation while not so much as acknowledging the actual rape victim … is nothing short of disgusting."

CNN’s coverage "appeared to be curiously weighted on Sunday, focusing on the effect the guilty verdict would have on the lives of the now-convicted rapists and their families, rather than that of the victim and her family," wrote The Huffington Post.

The Huffington Post’s report quotes CNN reporter Poppy Harlow saying during the coverage: "It was incredibly emotional, it was difficult for anyone in there to watch those boys break down. … [It was] also difficult, of course, for the victim’s family."

3 Comments

  1. I fault the hiring decisions made by CNN “Management” in recent years.
    Many (not all) of the so-called “Anchors” are not, and should never have been hired to read news…plus their egos are way out of line.
    What Ted Turner set out to do thirty-plus years ago has, in far too many ways, gone straight to Hell.
    Peter Bright

  2. This is only one example of the lack of professionalism of the CNN Anchors. They also appear to be shocked that the new head of the Catholic Church was not a NY liberal calling for legalized abortion and gay marriage to be adopted by the church. There needs to be a return to “just the news”, not the newsreaders’ opinion of the news.

  3. Once again, bring back the Fairness Doctrine and impose editorial labelling. Just because the ideas are old, doesn’t mean they weren’t correct.
    Anyone who thought an American or African would be installed as pope was deluded.

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