Last week, the news broke that two 18-year-old boys were accused of raping a 13-year-old girl. The girl has been attacked on social media by her peers, who called her a "whore" and accused her of "wanting it."
This sounds a little familiar. This took place in Torrington, Conn., but it's reminiscent of the recent media firestorm surrounding the rape of a 16-year-old in Steubenville, Ohio.
The difference here is that Torrington's case was about statutory rape, in which the age gap was the sticking point — apparently, the sexual encounter was completely consensual, if one disregards that a 13-year-old cannot consent to sexual activity under Connecticut law. Steubenville, however, was an example of cut-and-dry sexual assault, unless you look at the media coverage of it.
CNN's Candy Crowley sympathized with people involved in the Steubenville trial, and Poppy Harlow, a CNN contributor, went so far as to speak about the "poor boys" whose lives and promising football careers had been ruined, to say nothing of the survivor's situation.
The coverage of the Torrington case, in contrast, calls the social media attacks against the survivor "vicious."
What's with the difference here? It's good to see that the coverage of Torrington and the social media threats against all parties has been relatively neutral, at least in comparison with Steubenville, but what exactly is it about this case that is so different?
Perhaps news outlets learned their lesson. People were so furious with CNN's treatment of the sexual assault case in Steubenville, to say nothing of other news outlets (among them Fox News and MSNBC) who seemed to express sympathy with the convicted men. It was a complete ethical failure within the journalism community, a profound lack of responsibility that is frankly shameful.
I find it a little scary that the media is behaving much more ethically while tackling a supposedly consensual case, whereas the coverage of the Steubenville trial saw sympathy for the unrepentant convicted rapists.
Even so, we should all be thankful that the news media is sticking to reporting.
News outlets editorializing while attempting to present facts, sympathizing with those who would put others in harm's way and even putting out a victim's name are all highly irresponsible actions.
Although there is less media coverage of the situation in Torrington than in Steubenville, what has been done for the former is much more ethical, and for that I am thankful.
Let's continue to hold our journalism to that standard.
Reach the columnist at baorteg1@asu.edu or follow him at @BrandoBoySP
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