Rolling Stone's Hit Piece on University of Virgina Debunked

[Sanji Himura]

In an independent investigation done by Steve Coll, dean of University of Columbia's Journalism School, an article that appeared in the November 2014 issue that discussed a rape survivor working at the University of Virginia was proven to be a, "failure in Journalism".

Read the report here:

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/a-rape-on-campus-what-went-wrong-20150405?page=2

 

[JKgo]

....Yeah, read about it couple o' hours ago.

Do I blame the journo? Hmm, I guess I blame the culture of sensationalism. Ya know, smut sells, etc, etc.
As for the girl who cried wolf......hmm.

 

[ryzno]

Failure of journalism, or people jumping to a conclusion before all the facts are out there or a legal decision has been made.

Seems like the usual guilty until proven innocent.

 

[Johnnypenso]

Reading the details, it sounds like a grade 7 student in their first year of a journalism class could have done a better job. Obviously the journalistic standards aren't very high at Rolling Stone for something like this to slip by and a good deal of the blame rests with her editor and all those above her in the food chain that allowed the story to run with not even the bare minimum vetting.

 

[qhobbes]

In a related article Rolling Stone just hired Brian Williams as a fact checker.

Phi Kappa Psi is going to be rolling alright... rolling to the bank... the money bank with a fat defamation of character lawsuit check.

 

[Sanji Himura]

Reading the details, it sounds like a grade 7 student in their first year of a journalism class could have done a better job. Obviously the journalistic standards aren't very high at Rolling Stone for something like this to slip by and a good deal of the blame rests with her editor and all those above her in the food chain that allowed the story to run with not even the bare minimum vetting.

Agreed. Even a simple fact-check by someone other than Rolling Stone could have exposed holes in the story.

The simple truth is that Rolling Stone wanted to push the narrative that colleges were rape havens for the exploitation of women. That is why the story went through unchecked by the reporter, her editors, and even the editor in chief, who should have known better to take things at face value.

By the way, I do happen to agree with someone who said that the fraternity should sue, and win every dime the magazine earned with that article.

Addendum: The government has released data on campus crime for the years of 2007-2009. What you may see is surprising.

https://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/campus.html#data