Shame on CNN: Apologize for Steubenville coverage = PETITION

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3/18/13 - On Sunday, the Steubenville rape trial concluded with the judge finding two high school football players — Trent Mays, 17, and Ma'lik Richmond, 16 — guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl. The case itself has received a widespread coverage, but after the verdict was handed down, CNN became part of the story due to reporting "sympathetic" with the accused. A petition, with more than 30,000 signatures, is asking for a public apology from the network.

The petition criticizes the network for "sympathizing" with the rapists rather than the victim: That CNN decided to paint the tears of the convicted Steubenville rapists in a sympathetic light and say how their lives were ruined — while completely ignoring the fact that the rape victim's life is the one whose life was ruined by these rapists' actions — is disgusting and helps perpetuate a shameful culture in which young people never understand the concept of consent and in which rape victims are blamed and ostracized.

CNN host Candy Crowley spoke about how emotional the atmosphere in the courtroom must have been, turning to correspondent Poppy Harlow, who responded: I've never experienced anything like it, Candy. 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. One of — 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."