Their coverage of the rape conviction of two Steubenville, Ohio high-school football players has landed CNN in a world of trouble. Because they had footage of the two young men bursting into tears and no such shots of the victim, whose identity has been shielded, the network decided to play for sympathy for the criminals. Anchor Candy Crowley said how moving and emotional it must have been for these two with such promising careers ahead of them to have it all ruined. America's reaction was swift and sure, Candy and the reporter at the trial--female also--were lambasted by viewers for seeming to show sympathy for the rapists and none for the victim. To be cynical, it was because they had no pictures of the victim, so in order to be warm and fuzzy, the CNN crew worked with what they had.
