630 CHED Online Poll Triggers Outrage

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630 CHED Online Poll Triggers Outrage

Postby radiofan » Thu Apr 10, 2014 5:23 pm

CHED radio’s explosive online poll asks whether sex assault victims are to blame

BY KAREN KLEISS AND MARIAM IBRAHIM, EDMONTON JOURNAL APRIL 10, 2014

EDMONTON - An online poll asking whether victims are to blame for sexual assault triggered immediate outrage from Alberta politicians Thursday.

The poll, posted online by 630 CHED, asks: “Do you think victims of sexual assaults share any blame for what happens?”

Alberta Jobs Minister Thomas Lukaszuk responded immediately on the social media network Twitter, saying he will urge the government to pull advertising from the Corus radio station.

“If your poll is intentional and not a hacked account, I will encourage (the Alberta government) to pull all advertising off of your station,” Lukaszuk said on Twitter.

Justice Minister Jonathan Denis also responded immediately.

“I say victims are not to blame,” Denis wrote, also on Twitter.

The station later issued an apology after the controversy exploded, but the poll remained online.

“We’re sorry. This morning, we tweeted a poll that lacked context. That was wrong, and people are understandably upset,” the tweet reads.

The poll has been reworded slightly to include a reference to a panel discussion about rape culture held in Edmonton as part of the city’s Sexual Exploitation Week of Awareness.

NDP MLA Rachel Notley said there’s nothing to debate when a woman is sexually assaulted.

“To me that is utterly ridiculous,” she said, adding she believes the station should use the opportunity to educate people about sexual assault.

“I think what I’d like to see is more education about why this is wrong and those agencies that decided to suggest there was a debate maybe ought to rethink what they’re saying and should instead replace that notion with education about why it is not a debate and why in fact it’s not possible for a woman to ask to be assaulted,” Notley said.

Wildrose MLA Kerry Towle tweeted that the station should remove the “offensive” poll and “support all victims of violence.”

The poll gives two options for response: yes and no.

Under “no” the site says “women should be able to dress, drink and walk as they choose without fear of being blamed.”

Under “yes,” the poll says “if women drink too much, dress too little or walk in harms way, they put themselves at risk.”

By Thursday afternoon, 65 per cent of respondents had voted no, while 35 per cent of respondents had voted yes. The total number of respondents is not available on the website.

CHED brand manager Syd Smith said the station was “ham-handed” in how it phrased the question.

“That question, void of context, would make me angry,” he said on air Thursday.

More to come ...

kkleiss@edmontonjournal.com

twitter.com/ablegreporter

Poll: It's very controversial but do you think victims of sexual assaults share any blame for what happens? Vote: http://t.co/gLSFz6XWqR

— 630CHED (@630CHED) April 10, 2014

© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/CHED+rad ... story.html
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Re: 630 CHED Online Poll Triggers Outrage

Postby Howaboutthat » Thu Apr 10, 2014 6:07 pm

A stunt like that would almost have you thinking it's ratings time.

Oh wait - it is.
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Re: 630 CHED Online Poll Triggers Outrage

Postby SteveLegault » Wed Jul 30, 2014 11:49 am

I am what you might consider politically 'left' so have very little tolerance for bigotry, sexism, etc.....but I think sometimes we go a bit far in being politically correct.

what if the question was: "Do you think victims of home break-ins share any blame for what happens?”

Under “no” the poll says “homeowners should be able to leave their doors wide open and cash on the kitchen table without fear of being blamed.”

Under “yes,” the poll says “if homeowners leave their premises unsecured, they put themselves at risk.”

Would it come under as much scrutiny and outrage? Now, I'm not defending those who put the poll out there. It's kind of a stupid thing to do in today's world. Unfortunately, there are men out there who will take advantage of vulnerable women. It is just a fact of life that will never change. We should be teaching our daughters to be cognizant of these dangers and aware of their own security. Staggering down a darkened downtown street with a minimum of clothing SHOULD be safe, but it's not. Anyone who doesn't see that, in my books, is pretty naïve. The poll should have dropped the words "share any blame" and replaced it with "put themselves at increased risk"
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Re: 630 CHED Online Poll Triggers Outrage

Postby slowhand » Wed Jul 30, 2014 12:06 pm

While I know what you are driving at, and do agree, I do take exception to the Blame the Victim mentality that is so common today.

As in, it is my fault that my car was broken into because I forgot about the loonie I left in the cup holder. On the other hand, I totally agree that I put myself at increased risk because of my forgetfulness.
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Re: 630 CHED Online Poll Triggers Outrage

Postby SteveLegault » Thu Jul 31, 2014 5:56 am

Agreed slowhand. While blaming the victim is wrong in every way, we must all take responsibility for avoiding potential risk
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Re: 630 CHED Online Poll Triggers Outrage

Postby Fillinguy » Thu Jul 31, 2014 6:59 am

It's been my experience that edging around context and thereby creating inflammatory statements, headlines and so on is what media does... sorry... especially Edmonton and vaguely right leaning communities. I remember working in Alberta and wincing frequently at Edmonton Sun headlines for the approach they used, and exploitation of tragedy to sell papers.

While "Ham handed" may be an understatement, one has to wonder if it was somewhat intentional. Getting politicians waving arms and outraged at your audacity is a great way to get attention for your station.

Maybe Sun news can do an expose of how the city is prejudice against.... oh never mind, they did that already this year
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Re: 630 CHED Online Poll Triggers Outrage

Postby Fillinguy » Thu Jul 31, 2014 7:00 am

oh.. and Steve Legault has the correct answer in my opinion.
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Re: 630 CHED Online Poll Triggers Outrage

Postby Blabbermouth » Thu Jul 31, 2014 7:07 am

Okay, now let's change "women" in that question to "children." Either way the poll is offensive and totally unacceptable.
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Re: 630 CHED Online Poll Triggers Outrage

Postby SteveLegault » Thu Jul 31, 2014 12:05 pm

Blabbermouth wrote:Okay, now let's change "women" in that question to "children." Either way the poll is offensive and totally unacceptable.



I think I dealt with that above. However, if it were 'children', I would say shame on the parent for not teaching them about the risks life presents and how to best secure yourself.

Again, this is not to say that anyone is to blame but the offender. An open door and cash on the table is not an 'invitation' or an excuse for breaking into someone's home. BUT, only an idiot would invite that kind of trouble.

Children should be taught at a very young age that there are 'bad people' in the world and unfortunately, strangers have to be lumped into that category until such time as we are prepared to move them into the 'trusted' group. Even that, however, guarantees nothing. It just reduces the risk of them becoming victims.
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Re: 630 CHED Online Poll Triggers Outrage

Postby Mike Cleaver » Thu Jul 31, 2014 3:04 pm

More "stupididity" from a corpse that has no clue as to how to run radio stations.
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Re: 630 CHED Online Poll Triggers Outrage

Postby Jack Bennest » Thu Jul 31, 2014 10:47 pm

SteveLegault wrote:Children should be taught at a very young age that there are 'bad people' in the world and unfortunately, strangers have to be lumped into that category until such time as we are prepared to move them into the 'trusted' group. Even that, however, guarantees nothing. It just reduces the risk of them becoming victims.


I want to speak for strangers - most sex abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse is committed by people known to the victim not by the myth behind the bush.

Am I wrong?
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Re: 630 CHED Online Poll Triggers Outrage

Postby SteveLegault » Fri Aug 01, 2014 6:32 am

Jack Bennest wrote:
SteveLegault wrote:Children should be taught at a very young age that there are 'bad people' in the world and unfortunately, strangers have to be lumped into that category until such time as we are prepared to move them into the 'trusted' group. Even that, however, guarantees nothing. It just reduces the risk of them becoming victims.


I want to speak for strangers - most sex abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse is committed by people known to the victim not by the myth behind the bush.

Am I wrong?


Agreed Jack, but I was talking in the context of the thread
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