To: CNN
Shame on CNN: Apologize for Steubenville coverage.
"Your Steubenville verdict coverage was terrible and offensive. These boys committed a very serious crime and they were held accountable. The verdict that the judge handed down was justice, not a "tragedy." The tragedy was the rape. Please apologize and make this right."
Why is this important?
Yesterday a guilty verdict was handed down in the Steubenville rape case, where a 16-year-old girl was raped repeatedly by boys on a high school football team. The verdict was the beginning of justice for this brave young girl, but CNN's coverage was awful.
The entire CNN panel, including Candy Crowley, reporter Poppy Harlow and legal analyst Paul Callan focused on what a tragedy this was for the boys and what a shame it was that their lives had been ruined. It was as if the rape was some sort of unfortunate accident and they hadn't committed a very serious, invasive, and, for the survivor, life-altering crime.
CNN didn't focus on what this verdict meant for Jane Doe. It only focused on sad reflections of the "destroyed" lives of these boys that were caught raping a girl. This is wrong and CNN owes us all an apology. Can you add your name to the petition?