CNN Takes Heat for Tone-Deaf Tweet About Sexual Assault
On Tuesday morning, CNN continued its streak of poorly-thought-out tweets with a tone-deaf teaser about sexual assault.
“What state has the highest rate of rape in this country?” the network’s Twitter feed asked. “It may surprise you.”
What state has highest rate of rape in the country? It may surprise you. http://t.co/uYm3NqoLU5
— CNN (@CNN) February 4, 2014
The answer: Alaska.
Of course, a major news network tweeting out a flippant question about sexual assault in the style of local news reports (“Tonight at 10, the murder story that will shock you”) brought about some hefty criticism from other folks in the media, including a major online publication:
Keepin' it classy. “@CNN: What state has highest rate of rape in the country? It may surprise you. http://t.co/YZaeDiMupJ”
— Boing Boing (@BoingBoing) February 4, 2014
And a CNN alum:
Not a great tweet. RT @CNN What state has highest rate of rape in the country? It may surprise you. http://t.co/tJX3xSo7Al
— Jeff Simon (@jjsimonWP) February 4, 2014
And several other reporters:
That This Media Outlet Is Still Tweeting Dumb Stuff Won't Surprise You https://t.co/jnVXjhotb2
— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) February 4, 2014
No, CNN. RT @CNN What state has highest rate of rape in the country? It may surprise you. http://t.co/HYtzbwMXCl
— Rachel Zarrell (@rachelzarrell) February 4, 2014
Read other responses here.
Mediaite readers may recall that the network recently attempted to mimic the eye-roll-worthy headline stylings of Upworthy with a tweet about a young girl murdering her sister.
