Wow...when did CNN get this crap!

Not living in the US or having access to CNN...It's astonishing to see this.

http://gawker.com/5991003/cnn-reports-on-the-promising-future-of-the-steubenville-rapists-who-are-very-good-students

Did the two young men get agents? The whole CNN report (see the referenced video) sounds like it was stage managed to absolutely minimise the actions of the guilty parties. Actions they acknowledge they did! These guys raped a girl!

The coverage of this has been apalling. All this sympathy pouring out for the rapists...

But this does raise the question, in my head, about sex offender registries:

Is the punishment over-harsh? Does the fear of the punishment actually lead to offenders to more likely murder their victims?
Should minors be permanently placed on sex-offender registries?
Should anyone be placed on sex offender registries permanently?
Are the crimes that result in registration too broad, i.e. should non-rape/non sexual assault crimes result in registration? conviction for possession of child pornography will result in sex-offender registry is this right? Conviction for "lewd conduct" could result in sex-offender registry. Conviction for indecent exposure could result in sex-offender registry. (this could include women who expose their breasts, or men caught urinating in public)

When the sex-offender registries were first implemented, gay men who were convicted of "lewd conduct" (for example, of holding hands in public) up to twenty years previously were required to register as were those convicted for having sex in parks, bathhouses, and public restrooms. This registration subsequently ruined their lives. I understand that some of these issues have been remedied, but lives were ruined none-the-less.

All the considerations about fairness in the justice system are important - and should be reviewed and considered regularly. I'm not sure I'm in favour of sex offender registers in general - but I've not spent enough time researching to give a considered view. So perhaps this will prompt me to investigate it for myself.

But, in hearing the details of this case, these guys need some kind of extreme punishment. The attitude among the team mates, the victim blaming and the ambit lawsuits against people who made statements in support of the victim...there seem to be a lot of people who need a wake up call.

Sorry for the derail, certainly these rapists deserve the full measure of justice. I in no way meant to downplay their guilt.

The topic of sex registries, though seems to be what is driving many people to pitying the rapists. Perhaps the public's view of them has changed?

(No worries about the derail - conversations should go where they need to go!)

I doubt that one issue is driving a public reaction to sympathise with the rapists. The media seems to be shaping the story - advising people how to feel. The immediate community around the incident seems to have sided with the rapists prior to it hitting the mainstream media, but I don't think the wider public had an opinion until they heard about it through the media. There are lots of reasons that you can speculate about which may cause this kind of bias - but it's just speculation.

That report taken on its own did not cover:
- the effect of the rape on the victim
- any of the details of the rape or the following actions which were just as abhorrent
- the actions of the community in attempting to protect the rapists

I'm not arguing that news reporting should engage in the kind of 'balanced' reporting that just results in "he said, she said" journalism. However when you present so heavily from one side you tend to generate a particular viewpoint among the viewers. When that viewpoint is WAY off you start to question why the media engages in such a stance.

Just a thought, can you imagine a news report that attempted to sympathise with one of the recent mass shooters??? "An emotional day in court as the young man apologised to the people he shot and killed in the cinema, a good student who was well liked, this young man now faces life in prison for mass murder, essentially." It wouldn't be done - and it wouldn't work! I don't like the term "rape culture" - but what else can you call this kind of sympathy mongering for such a horrendous crime?

wow, that report was appalling. shit. This is the case where the girl was dragged unconscious from party to party to be raped, right? And some shit videoed his mate joking about it. And then the locals tried to cover it up. And now we're supposed to be sorry for the two rapists who actually got charged. Jesus christ that's fucked up.

Absolutely.

On a positive note, there now seems to be outcry for CNN to apologise for it's behaviour. At least people are seeing this and complaining about it.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/amid-backlash-petition-calls-on-cnn-to-apologize-on-air-for-sympathizing-with-steubenville-rapists/

Thanks null, I thought it was. Couldn't have known it from the CNN piece because the victim didn't get a mention.

I'm glad there's protest building, hopefully CNN will learn from it.