CNN criticized for Steubenville coverage

Ma'lik Richmond cries in juvenile court. (AP/Pool)

CNN's coverage of the Steubenville, Ohio, rape verdict involving a pair of high-school football players is being criticized for its focus on the rapists rather than the 16-year-old victim.

"I've never experienced anything like it," CNN correspondent Poppy Harlow said live outside the juvenile court in Steubenville. "It was incredibly emotional?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."

Harlow continued:

One of the young men, Ma'lik Richmond, when that sentence came down, he collapsed. He collapsed in the arms of his attorney, Walter Madison. He said to me, "My life is over. No one is going to want me now." Very serious crime here. Both found guilty of raping this 16-year-old girl at a series of parties back in August, alcohol-fueled parties. Alcohol is a huge part in this.

[Related: The reaction to the #Steubenville verdict on Twitter]

Both Richmond and Trent Mays, the other defendant, stood up and apologized to the victim and her family. Harlow described the scene to Candy Crowley.

"I was sitting about three feet from Ma'lik when he gave that statement. It was very difficult to watch," Harlow said. "This was an incredibly emotional day. These two juveniles being carried out and they will be committed today, Candy."

Crowley then discussed the case with CNN legal contributor Paul Callan.

"You know, Paul, a 16 year old now just sobbing in court, regardless of what big football players they are, still sound like 16 year olds," Crowley said. "The thing is, when you listen to it and you realize that they could stay until they're 21, they are going to get credit for time served. What's the lasting effect, though, on two young men being found guilty in juvenile court of rape, essentially?"

Callan's answer:

The most severe thing with these young men is being labeled as registered sex offenders. That label is now placed on them by Ohio law and, by the way, the laws in most other states now require such a designation in the face of such a serious crime. That will haunt them for the rest of their lives.

"One way to report on the outcome of a rape trial is to discuss the legal ramifications of the decision or the effect the proceedings may have on the life of the victim," Gawker's Mallory Ortberg wrote. "Another angle reporters can take is to publicly worry about the 'promising future' of the convicted rapists, now less promising as a direct result of their choice to rape someone. Reporters at CNN today chose the latter technique."

Harlow faced some of the sharpest criticism.

Perhaps CNN was listening. On Monday, the network aired a segment that focused on the victim's struggle she faces as a survivor.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/cnn-steubenville-rape-poppy-harlow-144458279.html

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