New York, 4:05 PM
Sat Nov 28
15 posts in the last 24 hours
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Ben Roethlisberger's Lawyers Stay On The Offensive |
What Exactly Is Ben Roethlisberger Accused Of Anyway? |
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Deadspin 
08/19/09
08/19/09
The words that started this whole mess.
08/19/09
08/19/09
08/19/09
08/19/09
08/19/09
08/19/09
We all know Ben doesn't like to play Just the Tip.
08/19/09
07/21/09
You don't take girls to Bengals mini-camp. There are rules.
07/21/09
Deadspin's editors don't know the veracity of these claims at this point. Clearly, no media organization, at this point, can. Rather than dig up what is clearly a personal photograph (as opposed to Roethlisburger's commercially photographed image), shouldn't the onus on media entities be to protect the image and name of rape victims (and, frankly, if there is even the remote possibility of these charges being true, we need to treat this young lady as such) rather than spread them around?
Clearly, from the link above, NBC considers it newsworthy to publish her name (a decision I disagree with). The decision by Deadspin's editorial staff, however, to go another step further and place a photograph on this page simply goes too far.If someone wants to dig up an image of someone, they're free to look around on the internet and do what they want; that being said, there's no need to promote such activity, or to facilitate it. Shouldn't we leave this sort of muckraking to lesser sites?
I'm very disappointed in the standards and editorial judgment displayed here.
07/21/09
07/21/09
Deadspin could have been in that camp by not running her photo and only linking to sites that did the same, by only associating itself with organizations that held themselves to a certain level of journalistic ethics.
That would have forced those that wanted to see what this young lady looked like to find out such information from other, less reputable sites (like TMZ) through their own means. Of course the information (and photo) is out there. Deadspin still didn't have to be a facilitator.
In the end, I'm more surprised than anything else -- after the EA story and apology that followed it earlier this week, I would have just assumed that the site would tend towards being overly-protective when it came to privacy matters from here on out.
The editorial staff has made their position -- and what media organizations they choose to associate themselves with -- quite clear.
07/21/09
07/21/09
07/21/09
If she is concerned about it then she should not be suing Ben Roethlisburger for financial resitution as a result of alleged sexual misconduct.
07/21/09
That still doesn't mean that the media has to take an active role in promulating such information.
The choice to do so, and the choice of how far to take that choice (running images) remains up to editorial discretion. All I'm saying is that this decision didn't have to be made.
07/21/09
07/21/09
07/21/09
07/21/09
07/21/09
/dick joke
07/21/09
Obviously it's well established that it is not illegal to publish her name or photo, but that doesn't make it right at all.
Given the complicated nature of sexual assault, and the potential victim in it, its not surprising that she may not have gone to the police with it. 60 % go completely unreported.
Now I'm not saying Roethlesburger did it, she could very well be a money-grubbing liar, or she could be a victim. Using the "It's not illegal, and everyone else is doing it" excuse doesn't make it right or moral.
The way I look at it is: If this girl turns out to be a victim will Deadspin editors feel bad? If she is lying and you didn't publish did you really miss much.
I hate to compare the two, but in a week in which Deadspin got bit in the ass for not using the better part of discretion, I'd have thought we/you may have used some in this case.
07/22/09
This is a false statement. There is a GUARANTEED victim in this case, whatever the outcome. Either he sexually assaulted her, or she has violated him in a way that is just as bad.
The fact that she never went to the police sucks. It is generous to think she didn't report it because she was ashamed, yet not so ashamed that she turns around and files a civil suit because, hey, making Big Ben pay cash money = true consequences and reprecussions! The public's good and ethical nature (withholding info of rape victims) was never meant to be used as a shield so grenades can be thrown from safety. And if every single word she says is true? She's letting a criminal pay his way out of a rape.
07/22/09
Fair enough that if she's lying Roethlesberger is a victim.
The difference is, however, the Roeth. is a potential extortion victim, and while it's bad there's not the same level of shame and personal violation as that of a sexual assault victim, which is the reason the media started their voluntary agreement not to publish sexual assault victim's names in the first place.
And many times Rape victims only resource is a civil case. As stated elsewhere, Sexual assault is extremely hard to prosecute, because it normally boils down to he said-she said. that makes proving it beyond a reasonable doubt nearly impossible. In a civil case she only needs to convince a jury that he more than likely assaulted her. Even though it's not criminal prosecution, there's still a sense of justification and redemption for rape victims after a civil case.
The point is that nobody knows whether she's a money-grubbing whore or a victim of sexual assault, and until it plays itself in court I think using some discretion is the much better way to approach this.
07/22/09
07/22/09
Point being, I think this should be played as conservatively as possible until the facts are known...
07/22/09
07/21/09
07/21/09
07/21/09
07/21/09
I had the exact same thought when I heard the rumor that Atlas Shrugged was being made into a miniseries.
07/21/09
Especially assaulting Andrea McNulty
07/21/09
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07/21/09