That's a big no-no for coverage of sexual assault, which has centered on standard practices that have barred major media outlets from naming rape victims in public coverage. And it's a big misstep for MSNBC, which had been pretty much the opposite of CNN with very thoughtful coverage (at least on Melissa Harris-Perry's show) of the case. For Fox, the move looks hypocritical — on FoxNews.com, they ran the following editor's note, explaining why they didn't even name the underage defendants, Mays or Ma'lik Richmond, despite their being outed by hackers and media long ago, and then put in front of cameras by their own attorneys and a judge's decision:

Editors’ Note: The Associated Press named the minors charged due to the fact they have been identified in other news coverage and their names were used in open court. FoxNews.com will not name the defendants.

Critics online — they have been vociferous in their campaign for "Justice for Jane Doe" — said Fox News should take equal if not more caution in protecting the anonymity of the victim.

But the critics have saved the most ire for CNN: On Sunday CNN correspondent Poppy Harlow "reported" that the verdict reflected a tough situation... for the criminals — she said it was "difficult, even for an outsider like me, to watch what happened as these two young men that had such promising futures, star football players, very good students, literally watched as they believed their lives fell apart."

Anchor Candy Crowley continued the tone-deaf coverage with a question for legal analyst Paul Callan: "What's the lasting effect, though, on two young men being found guilty in juvenile court of rape, essentially?" Cannan said that the verdict "will haunt them [the boys] for the rest of their lives." Harlow, Crowley, and Cannan all sort of forgot that there's a young girl out there who's going to have to live with being a high-profile rape victim for the rest of her life. Turns out, so did the rest of the mainstream television news media.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.