Rolling Stone falsely accused some University of Virginia students of heinous, criminal acts, and falsely depicted others as indifferent to the suffering of their classmate. [27] A student quoted in The Daily Progress said that men at a nearby bar were "quick to yell 'insults and slurs' at the protesters as they walked by". The report indicated the college students suffered disgust, emotion, and confusion. A stone-cold sober coed named Jackie is lured by her date " Drew" to an upstairs room at the fraternity house. What distinguished the UVA story from anything else ever reported was that the assault did not involve drugs or alcohol, required elaborate planning, and involved so many people that the perps could not have reasonably expected to get away with ita confluence of factors that caused the allegations to have substantially more in common with ones that ultimately proved to be false, like the Duke lacrosse case and Tawana Brawley incident. [147][148][149] Harvey A. Silverglate in The Boston Globe referenced the Rolling Stone article in opining that the college sexual assault "scare" follows a long tradition of runaway, exaggerated social epidemics that "have ruined innocent lives and corrupted justice. This isn't the first time Rolling Stone has published provably false stories. Students at the University of Virginia expressed "bewilderment and anger" following Rolling Stone's apology for its story, with one female student declaring "Rolling Stone threw a bomb at us." [142] Froma Harrop issued a call for media outlets to begin to publicly name rape accusers, explaining that "reporters and editors should expand their sensitivities to include the reputations of those accused, not always justly". [24] A woman named Jackie Coakley (now McGovern), who was a student at UVa at the time, had an issue with a boy who was not paying her enough attention, or didn't see her as a romantic interest, or something like that. Erdely said that Jackie regained consciousness alone in the fraternity after 3 a.m. and fled the building blood-spattered and bruised, phoning three friends for help. Later media analysis of photos Jackie showed her friends of her date demonstrated that they were pictures taken from the public social media profile of a former high-school classmate of Jackie, who was not a student of the University of Virginia, did not live in the Charlottesville area, and was out of state at an athletic competition the day of the alleged attack. They arrived "minutes later" and found her on the corner next to the building. Recalling his experience with Stephen Glass before he was exposed for journalism fraud, Bradley argued the article relied heavily on confirmation bias. [146], Media sources and commentators discussed the allegations in the context of the reported "rape culture" or a rampant sexual assault epidemic that activists had claimed existed on U.S. college campuses. . [134] Erdely furthermore reported that Office for Civil Rights Assistant Secretary Catherine E. Lhamon called Grove's statements at the meeting "deliberate and irresponsible". [60][98] At the subsequent trial, one of Jackie's friends the night of the alleged attack testified that their friendships eventually dwindled because of Jackie's "tendency to fabricate things". We dont know where, Like what you read here? By December 5, 2014, Christopher Pivik, a former member of Phi Kappa Psi at the University of Virginia, had retained attorney Andrew Miltenberg. The story portrayed University staff members as manipulative and callous toward victims of sexual assault. Please. She said: "I think we've gone backwards 30 years. [60][117] However, Coco McPherson, who is in charge of Rolling Stone's fact-checking operation, said, "I one-hundred percent do not think that the policies that we have in place failed. Attorneys for the dean, Nicole Eramo, allege that NOW, the largest feminist group in the U.S., and the lawyers for the false rape accuser, Jackie Coakley ("Jackie"), engaged in a "publicity stunt" by jointly crafting a Jan. 6, 2016 open letter criticizing Eramo for "re-victimiz[ing]" the fabulist. rape accuser's friends begin to doubt story Washington Times", "Friends' accounts differ significantly from victim in UVA rape story", "Lawyers in Rolling Stone lawsuit acknowledge 'Jackie' has ties to fake persona", "Police find no evidence of alleged sexual assault at U-Va. fraternity, "These Surreal "Catfishing" Texts May Have Prompted The UVA Rape Scandal", "Rolling Stone Article on Rape at University of Virginia Failed All Basics, Report Says", "Rolling Stone Deputy Editor Tendered Resignation; Wenner Declines", "Rolling Stone Tries to Regroup After Campus Rape Article Is Disputed", "Jury finds reporter, Rolling Stone responsible for defaming U-Va. dean with gang rape story", "Statement from Writer of Rolling Stone Article Sabrina Erdely", "Rolling Stone Retracts UVA Fraternity Rape Story, Pundits React US News", "Rolling Stone fails to take full responsibility for its actions", "Major 'failures' found in Rolling Stone's 'A Rape on Campus', "Probe of Now-Discredited Rolling Stone Article Didn't Find Fireable Error", "Rolling Stone magazine "Jackie" recording released", "Hey, Feminist Internet Collective: Good Reporting Does Not Have To Be Sensitive", "Rush After 'A Rape On Campus': A UVA Alum Goes Back to Rugby Road", "Why Didn't Sabrina Rubin Erdely Write about Vanderbilt? [18] The Post did report, however, that Jackie appeared distraught after the rape allegedly took place. "[144] Writing for Bloomberg, Zara Kessler observed that, "suddenly, every Cosby accuser is a potential 'Jackie'although we don't yet know precisely what it means to be a 'Jackie.' [28] Community members offered suggestions for immediate steps administration could take to implement preventive measures and address safety concerns regarding sexual assault. Oh, the earth spun a little slower, or faster metaphors fail me when it comes to stuff like this. [17][20], Within hours of the article's publication, UVA president Teresa Sullivan had called the governor's chief of staff and the Charlottesville police chief to start preparing a response. Teresa Sullivan, the president of UVa, promptly shut down all the fraternities and, bizarrely, the sororities as well (don't ask), in a "ready, fire, aim" response, without allowing even the Phi Psis the due process to point out all the inaccuracies that made the article suspect.Ultimately, Rolling Stone got sued, paid out a big settlement to get out from under their own stupidity, and took a big black eye as far as journalistic competence. [122] Erik Wemple of The Washington Post called Dana's departure "four months too late". Quoting its legal consultant Mark Eiglarsh, the network reported that if Jackie "allegedly lied and that perpetrator suffered injury as a result, she could be sued for damages". [65] The Columbia Journalism Review called the apology "a grudging act of contrition". "A Rape on Campus" is a retracted, defamatory Rolling Stone magazine article[2][3][4] written by Sabrina Erdely and originally published on November 19, 2014, that describes a purported group sexual assault at the University of Virginia (UVA) in Charlottesville, Virginia. They went on to call for Rolling Stone to "fully and unconditionally retract its story and immediately remove the story from its website". "[80] An editorial in the Boston Herald declared: "a fifth-grader would've done some basic fact-checking before potentially ruining men's lives" before repeating the call for the firing of Rolling Stone staff involved in the story. [46] [46] Slate reported that the Post account strongly implied Jackie's tale of rape had been fabricated in an attempt to win over "Randall", who had previously rebuffed her romantic advances. [47], In Erdely's story, Jackie sank into depression after the alleged rape and was holed up in her dorm room for a while. After the date, they allegedly went to a party at his fraternity house, where he brought her to a dark bedroom upstairs and "a heavy person jumps on top of her. [32][33] Erdely defended her decision not to interview the accused by saying that the contact page on the fraternity's website "was pretty outdated". [165], On November 9, 2015, Phi Kappa Psi filed a $25 million lawsuit against Rolling Stone in state court "to seek redress for the wanton destruction caused to Phi Kappa Psi by Rolling Stone's intentional, reckless, and unethical behavior". We must, apparently, not give out the names of accusers. There's a new piece (usually three) from Bob every weekday here on Substack. "[116] The published story glossed over the gaps in the magazine's reporting by using pseudonyms and by failing to state where important information had come from. There is certainly a good argument to make that it is often necessary to prosecute as a deterrent to the next person willing to try the same felonious act. "[89] Sociology professor W. Bradford Wilcox, meanwhile, tweeted that "I was wrong to give it [the Rolling Stone story] credence. The failure encompassed reporting, editing, editorial supervision and fact-checking. Many in the media were quick to link that story to stories about my husband until that story unwound. Rolling Stone retracted the story in its entirety on April 5, 2015. [131], One month after the publication of the Rolling Stone article, the Rector of the University of Virginia, George Keith Martin, accused the magazine of "drive-by journalism" when he stated, "Like a neighborhood thrown into chaos by drive-by violence, our tightly knit community has experienced the full fury of drive-by journalism in the 21st century. to see all of them, at. But I have a pretty good notion that she violated some serious criminal statutes; after all, participating in a fraud involving the mails (a magazine) or wire (somewhere along the line) is a Federal issue. [163] On November 7, 2016, the jury decided that Rolling Stone and Erdely were liable for $3 million in damages to Eramo. Such false depictions reinforce the reluctance sexual assault victims already feel about reporting their experience, lest they be doubted or ignored. At any rate, you surely remember. It was later revealed Erdely had not interviewed any of the men accused of the rape. Tim Coakley Jazz Show; Vox Pop; . "[151], National Review columnist Jonah Goldberg has called for Phi Kappa Psi to sue Rolling Stone, while at least one legal expert has opined that there is a high likelihood of "civil lawsuits by the fraternity members or by the fraternity itself against the magazine and maybe even some university officials". washingtonexaminer.com [117], Rolling Stone fully retracted "A Rape on Campus" and removed the article from its website. In her remarks, she said, "Before the Rolling Stone story was discredited, it seemed to resonate with some people simply because it confirmed their darkest suspicions about universitiesthat administrations are corrupt; that today's students are reckless and irresponsible; that fraternities are hot-beds of deviant behavior. [101][102][a], In 2012 Jackie told her friends that she had been accosted by five men, though she later testified to Erdely that she had been attacked by seven, with two more directing and encouraging the rape. ", to become a weapon of revenge. The accuser told the Post that she had felt "manipulated" by Erdely, and claimed she asked Erdely not to quote her in the article, a request the journalist denied. [125] He added, "False accusations have been extremely damaging to our entire organization, but we can only begin to imagine the setback this must have dealt to survivors of sexual assault. "[121], Rolling Stone announced that Will Dana would leave his job at the magazine, effective August 7, 2015. Jun 8, 2013 Jackie Coakley and Howard E. Andrews were married April 13 in Phillips Chapel Church at Jimtown with the Rev. "[21][22], The next day, Phi Kappa Psi voluntarily suspended chapter activities at UVA for the duration of the investigation. [117] The report also states that the article misled readers with quotes where attribution was unclear and used pseudonyms inappropriately as a way to address these shortcomings. Disgraced former Rolling Stone reporter Sabrina Erdely admitted in the company's defamation trial that she failed to speak to critical figures in her story about a gang rape at the University of Virginia (UVA), who could have exposed key source Jackie Coakley as a fantastic liar, according to reports. "[116] Rolling Stone managing editor Will Dana was also cited on the Columbia report: "It's not like I think we need to overhaul our process, and I don't think we need to necessarily institute a lot of new ways of doing things. While many began questioning whether publicly or privately the validity of her story almost immediately, Rolli. Lindy West said that female rape victims will probably be less likely to report sexual assaults for fear of being questioned by "some teenage 4Channer". [78], Fellow Jezebel writer Jia Tolentino wrote an analysis of Erdely's story and reported on fraternity rush after the Rolling Stone article was discredited. Columbia published Groves' letter, where he contrasts video[133] of his statements to the University of Virginia Board of Visitors in September 2014 with the text of Erdely's published article, which differ significantly,[citation needed] and concludes that Erdely's article contains "bias and malice". [60] Wenner laid blame for the magazine's failures on Jackie. And in this case, our judgement was wrong. So where is good old Jackie Coakley these days? "[91], Within days following the unraveling of the Rolling Stone story, the North American Interfraternity Conference, the National Panhellenic Council, and the Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee demanded that the University of Virginia "immediately reinstate operations for all fraternity and sorority organizations on campus" and issue an apology to Greek students. Prior to the publication of the story, early-action applications were up 7.5 percent with 16,187 applicants.
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