Slut shaming in the Buffalo News?

Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane is being investigated for rape in his native Buffalo, N.Y., area.

The Buffalo News has been on the story. In the latest report, the bar owner at the bar Kane left from that night, SkyBar, describes a young woman hanging all over Kane throughout the evening, and then leaving with him.

Here is the News story:

New details emerge in allegations against NHL star Patrick Kane - City & Region - The Buffalo News

Here are some pieces critical of what they judge to be victim-blaming:

http://www.sportsmediaguy.com/blog/2015/8/9/the-buffalo-news-irresponsible-journalism

Report: Accuser Claims Patrick Kane Overpowered And Raped Her

Thoughts?

 

Patrick Kane under investigation for sexual assault | SportsJournalists.com

A d_b of your own thread. Thoughts?

 

At the very least, hold the damn story until you can confirm it was the same woman.

 

The story is irresponsible for a number of reasons, including the bar owner's comments. If the News can't say that the woman this bar owner saw flirting with Kane is the same woman who has now accused him of rape, then those comments should not see the light of day. Even if they can say that, it would not justify what the accuser claims occurred later.

Someone at the News needs a refresher on the proper use of the word "alleged." In the same vein, it's frustrating to see a subhed that uses the phrase "alleged victim" and to later see the phrase "alleged rape victim" in the story.

 

I think this is where a lot of these discussions go wrong. The inclusion of the quotes isn't meant to justify what the accused claims occurred later. They are used to possibly discredit what she says occurred later. Huge difference.

 

You call it a huge difference, I call it a distinction without a difference. Being flirtatious at a bar, with a guy that you left with, does not and should not discredit (why are we randomly italicizing words again?) claims that at a later point in time, in a different place, things went further than she agreed to.

 

I could not get the link to the Buffalo News story to work but if the account int he sportsmediaguy blog accurately represents the story, I am shocked that it would appear in that paper.

You don't know if it's really her and you only have some guy's impression of her intentions.

 

If you read the AP story about the town today, there is a concerted effort by everyone in town to make sure their guy doesn't come out of this looking bad. He canceled a party at a bar, so the bar moved the party to his house. There's a police patrol outside his gate. And of course the requisite jersey-wearing fanbois who believe in their guy.

Under police investigation, Blackhawks' Kane hires lawyer

So the News is certainly doing its civic duty.

 

It's not a random word. It's the word that distinguishes that reason from justification. No one is trying to justify rape.

It doesn't necessarily discredit her story, of course. But if the bar owner's account is accurate, and she was truly acting that interested in him, it certainly makes it more likely that the sex, presuming it occurred, was consensual, or that Kane believed it was consensual, than if, say, Kane were making advances on her all night and getting the cold shoulder.

A defense attorney would roll the bar owner out there, right? Why would the News ignore it?

 

First of all, we don't even know if it's the same woman or not. It's not like it's a singular occurrence to have a female flirting with a young, famous athlete at a bar.

Regardless, their attempt to discredit is directly related to their apparent belief that flirting in public = consent for sex.

 

Why would the News ignore it? For starters, the woman's account is that she and a friend went to Kane's house. Has the News figured out that the accuser is the person the owner saw, and that it wasn't her friend?

Also, when an attorney rolls it out, the matter receives a full airing. It isn't "yeah, shit, she was all over him, she practically sucked his dick right there at the bar" with no challenge whatsoever.

The bar owner clearly knows where his bread is buttered.

 

This is certainly noted in the story:

“I don’t know if this is the same woman who made the rape allegation against him,” Croce said. “I only know what I saw that night on my own premises. If you’re going to ask what happened between them after they left that night, how would I know?”

The News could not independently verify whether the woman Croce described is the same woman who made the rape complaint to Hamburg Police.

I'll have to disagree there, and vehemently.

I don't think the idea is that "flirting in public = consent for sex."

I think the idea is that flirting in public makes it more likely that consent for sex was later given. The flirting isn't the consent.