The case hit the spotlight not just for, well, rape, but its insight into how social media played a role during and after the attack, the peculiar American culture of high school athlete idolatry, and the media's coverage of all of the above.
In January, this blog reported on the unsettling events in Steubenville, Ohio, where two high school football players had at that time been charged with the rape of a 16-year-old girl from a neighbouring town. The events had played out on Twitter and YouTube. It was apple pie small town America gone very wrong.
The original story is here.
On Sunday, the two rapists – often described as high school football “stars” – were found guilty. The sentence for one of the boys, a 16-year-old, included a year in the state juvenile system. The other, a 17-year-old, received an additional year to his sentence for “distributing a nude image of a minor.”
The scene in court as the sentences were delivered by the judge was dramatic. Both boys appeared remorseful and apologised to the victim's family. One collapsed in his lawyer's arms and said “My life is over.”
The reaction to CNN's approach to the verdict and sentences caused something of a storm and became a media story in its own right.
On Sunday, host Candy Crowley crossed to reporter Poppy Harlow on the scene and focused on the impact the verdicts would have on the boys. The segments drew accusations they were sympathising with the rapists and blaming the drunk victim for the attack.
“For readers interested in learning more about how not to be labeled as registered sex offenders, a good first step is not to rape unconscious women, no matter how good your grades are…” snarked a response to CNN from Gawker, which was not alone in torching CNN's coverage.
While CNN oddly spun their coverage, the outcry around it has propelled discussion on the case further than Sunday's guilty verdict. We now have a discussion on the dark side of social media and the bizarre culture of so-called “elite” high school football players across America and how that is enabled by communities. As journalist Dan Wetzel acutely highlights in a pointed piece about the case:
“The local football team… allowed players to brazenly operate seemingly above the law for years. Social-media accounts, self-made videos, photos and classless text messages exposed an entire world that seemed like a Hollywood script of a high school team out of control.
“That was part of the arrogance. Arrogance from the defendants. Arrogance from the friends. Arrogance within the culture. Arrogance based on the fact that this night, witnesses testified over and over, wasn't strikingly different than any other night in the life of a Big Red football player.”
It's probable that the two boys found guilty of this rape are not all bad and have some strong qualities. They had good school grades and one of them had turned his life around after some difficult challenges. It is even sad that one of them considers his life is “over”.
Bravo and boo-hoo to all that.
But something, somewhere, somehow, created an environment where the actions that night – that will live them all their lives – were considered permissible, OK, and apparently, even a joke. And for that, a lot more people are guilty than the two teenagers sentenced on Sunday.
