News media too sympathetic to teenage rapists?

NK. I believe that there are several issues with what happened in this crime. First, underage drinking is a problem that is worldwide and continues and will continue. Anytime you have kids drinking, poor decisions are made. Second, these two young boys took advantage a person and a situation and seem as though they never truly realized the depth of what they did until they were found guilty. Also, this generation is so consumed with social networking that they show their inability to think clearly, make sound judgments and do not consider others feelings. The victim is now left to deal with this for the rest of her life. Many people are upset that CNN has focused so much of the changed lives of the offenders “Football Players” rather than the victim. I agree that they should not be the focus. It’s a hard way to learn a lesson but accountability is the necessary here.

After reading this story I came to the apparent conclusion that the media was way too sympathetic to the offenders. The offenders were drinking and when you drink too much your judgment is a little lacking, but that’s no excuse for committing a horrendous crime like rape. If these boys did have any remorse for what they did they wouldn’t have posted comments about their actions on social media sites and talked about it in text messages.

There are two main reasons in my eyes why the media focused on these “poor” boys as being victims of their actions. First, the boys were promising athletes that were probably pandered to ever since they realized that they were star athletes. This is a big problem in our society. We hold the athletically gifted at a higher level; almost making them in to gods. Second, they are so young and they were good students that didn’t get in to trouble. The media loves a good story of normal everyday kids doing something incredible horrific. The media made them out to be victims because of their age. They might not have thought the boys really realized the severity of what they had done. I don’t care who you are, by the time you hit puberty you understand what things are right and what things are wrong. You learn that having sex with an individual that’s extremely intoxicated and can’t respond to you -IS WRONG.

The way the media handled this case is appalling. To try and make these boys out to be victims is just sad. They knew what they were doing and they didn’t care. They might have thought that they were above the law because of their status at school. But, they soon realized they were not. There’s no reason these boys shouldn’t have been looked at as offenders and nothing else. Rape is an inexcusable action; all of the focus should have been on the victim being the only victim of this case. It’s the girl that will have to deal with what has happened. The boys are rapist, nothing more.

In this instance the media organization CNN has reported a spin on a highly publicized “street crime” rape trial where they have seemed to almost reverse the status of victim and offender. The CNN respondent, Poppy Harlow, was very sympathetic towards the rapists and how being handed a guilty verdict by the Judge for the crime committed has destroyed the lives of the offenders. While often minority victims are dismissed as victims of crimes, the true “victim” in this case was under represented and nearly discounted in the media footage, despite the fact that she was the stereotypical victim-a 16 year old white female. But the media in this instance portrayed the image of the fallen American football hero who being labeled as a registered sex offender would have such a devastating and lasting impact on their adult lives. There is concerning debate about why public attention should be directed toward the lives of the juvenile offenders over that of the victim. While we know that juvenile crime rates have declined, there is still reportedly 15% of juvenile arrests for forcible rape. Rather than the media portraying fallen football stars who just happened to be under the influence-a delinquency crime-in and of itself, maybe CNN should be focusing more attention on justice prevailing for a serious crime committed against a young girl and helping raise awareness of underage drinking and juvenile crime including rape.

Terrible choices made all around. I am not sure if the boys pleaded guilty or not guilty to rape but if they claimed they were innocent and the girls accusations and the pic are what the decision is being based on would be such a shame. When i was in high school (i graduated 2010), I have heard of my classmates taking pictures of other people having sex and thought it was disgusting. I have also heard several girls claim they were raped just because they wanted the attention of the guy or attention in general. I don’t know how credible this victim is but i think the punishment was a little too much seeing as they are 16 and 17. It was a terrible thing if they did actually rape her but even taking a picture of the girl passed out naked is bad enough. It’s a shame these two will have their lives changed dramatically over this but they can’t really blame anybody else.

First of all it is terrible that all three young lives are changed forever by this crime. It was also terrible how much coverage was given to the “fallen football stars”. CNN did seem to give more sympathy to the boys. We wouldn’t do that for an adult offender. I know the girl’s identity needs to be protected so maybe CNN just didn’t have enough material to talk about her and her family, so they focused on what they could see. The boys may be great football players and students, but used very, very poor judgement and now will have to live with the consequences. One to two years in juvenile detention seems pretty lenient for rape. And the fact that they continued to send text messages shows they knew what they did and used more poor judgment. These “kids” knew what they were doing was wrong, anyone with half a brain would know that. I think the real payment for this crime will be when the boys get out and back to the real world, that is when they’ll see the full consequences of what they’ve done. It is sad that the focus was on their lives, and their feelings, etc. Everyone deserves a second chance, but they are the offenders in this case – any sympathy right now should go to the victim. None of the kids are blameless, alcohol is never a good idea. Poor judgments are always made when alcohol is involved. This is a great case to shed light on underage drinking and crime. Where are the parents? Where or who is supplying the alcohol to these kids? Parents need to be super involved when kids reach this age. They are still kids, so they already make some poor decisions and then add alcohol to the mix and you have a mess. I think the parents are also to blame, along with these boys. I hope something good can come from it someday and that these three stay away from alcohol at the very least. The media should use this case as a way to talk about teenage drinking and the devastating effects it can have.

I feel that this case is just another exmple of the media trying to catch viewers attention. These two boys decided to make a very poor decision and now have to pay the consequence for what they did. The media chose to focus in on the offenders and their family rather than on the focusing in on the crime. By doing this they take even more away from the victim because it makes it look like they are good kids that come from good families and that what is said to have happened was exagerated. Our youth these days need to have more positive examples around them as opposed to shows like Jersey Shore and Buckwild that show people having the time of their lives partying and having sex.

The media in this case was way too sympathetic. These boys committed a very serious crime of rape. Child or adult in the case of rape should be held to the same standards. Rape is such a traumatic event no one should ever have to experience it. This boys need to be taught a lesson even if it mean sentencing them to a year or two. However, I do know that the deterrence effect does not help; since, these boys got the charge with rape and sentence to a year or two that will probably not deter anybody else from committing such a crime. I think that the media actually glamorized these boys by showing them at their weakest moments which people tend to feel compassion towards people that are hurting. All in all, if the media shows off a story like this it needs to make sure that the whole story is told and not just certain parts to play on peoples emotions.

I think that in this case the media did sympathize a little too much with them. I do not believe in all cases they do. But I think that rape is a very serious thing and especially at such a young age the way kids treat each other these days and the way that people judge one another. They need to be punished just like adults are punished when they rape someone. We all know it is wrong and bad and that it is a crime. Juveniles are 15% of people that are rape offenders. I am glad these boys were found guilty. But there is no reason to make them seem like they are such great people because they are football stars. The crime they committed against this girl could ruin her life for ever. She might not ever be able to be in a long term relationship. There are many different outcomes that could come from all of this. People watching this should just know the seriousness of this and how often this stuff is really happening and I do not think there is any reason to have sympathy for these criminals.

I have followed this case since it happened and have been amazed with the focus on the offenders as opposed to the effect on the victim. It almost seems as if the two male offenders were perceived as victims and had no choice but to rape this young girl. The problem with CNN is twofold, as the article states. The offenders and their families were very public with their tears and pleas for sympathy, which made for a compelling news story. The protected victim and her family were not available to produce courtroom video and sound bytes which would attract viewers and increase their ratings. The second issue is the lack of ethics on the part of the news media in producing and repeating a news story that tells the story of the consequences of the offenders over and over again….

I would have preferred the media presented the immediate and long-term impact to the victim, her family and other potential victims in the unfortunate situation. Taking away responsibility for their choices and actions does not help to address the issue of teen rape and address the needs of the victim. An additional concern about this outpouring of support for the offenders is the increased potential of the young girl to be further victimized by her classmates. The boys need to experience appropriate consequences for their crime.

This case is one that was completely mind boggling to read about, and not just because the parents were pleading for mercy for their sons’ actions. First, you have this young group of people admittedly partying and drinking to the point of black out. Where were the parents then? I know that all high schoolers think it’s cool to get drunk with their friends and have a good time, but really? Then, you have these boys who think its perfectly fine to take advantage of a young girl simply because she cannot take care of herself. Not to mention the photos that were taken and passed around as if they were no big deal. That poor girl. In my opinion, this is exactly why acquaintance rape cases aren’t reported; her story was made into a joke around school then filtered into the media.

Back to these boys and their families. They will be serving a fairly short sentence in a detention facility for juveniles, which in my opinion is not enough. Especially considering how much they begged for something less. Rape is one of those things that should never be joked about and this case made a mockery of all the young girls out there that have been involved in it. Especially considering the fact that the young girl and her family’s opinions were not mentioned once in the article, it was all about the selfish boys and their pleas to get out of their wrongdoing.