8 teens charged in vicious attack

NEW YORK (AP) — Eight Florida teenagers charged with beating another teen so they could post the “animalistic” attack on YouTube got exactly what they had wanted — worldwide exposure.

But that doesn’t mean YouTube or any other media company should get the blame, legally or ethically, for the attack, media experts said Friday.

In fact, they have a duty to share the video, said Kelly McBride, the ethics group leader at the Poynter Institute journalism think tank in St. Petersburg, Fla.

“The fact that the video was shot because they were seeking publicity was secondary,” McBride said. “A crime was committed in our community, and if there’s a videotape of it, I want some information. That video was incredibly revealing. It told more truth about what happened than any other form of reporting could have told.”

The teenagers have been arrested on charges that they beat the teen so they could make a video of the attack to post online.

One of the girls struck the 16-year-old victim on the head several times and then slammed her head into a wall, knocking her unconscious, according to an arrest report.

“It’s absolutely an animalistic attack,” Sheriff Grady Judd said earlier this week. “They lured her into the home for the express purpose of filming the attack and posting it on the Internet.”

On Friday, a judge set bail for each of the defendants at $30,000 during the teens’ first court appearance. Prosecutors said seven of the girls will be tried as adults in the March 30 attack in Lakeland, Fla. They face charges of kidnapping, battery and witness tampering.

It’s not clear who posted the video on the Internet.

But the Polk County sheriff’s office released a clip that has been widely circulating online and on television, including The Associated Press’ video network.

Those who blame YouTube or news organizations should blame themselves first, said Steve Jones, a communications professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

“The public is culpable as well because they are paying attention,” he said. “There is no medium that forces them to pay attention.”