Two weeks ago, Rolling Stone published a bombshell piece that rocked the academic world. In the story, author Sabrina Erdely detailed a horrific crime — a gang rape at one of the fraternities at the University of Virginia that allegedly took place two years ago.
It turns out the story has more holes than Swiss cheese, and just yesterday, 16 days after publication, Rolling Stone issued an apology.
Erdely and Rolling Stone didn’t just make a few spelling errors here and there. According to CNN:
Warthen said there were other discrepancies in the account from the woman, whom Rolling Stone identified as Jackie, who then had just started her freshman year. For example, the orchestrator of the alleged rape did not belong to the fraternity, the fraternity house has no side staircase and there were no pledges at that time of year.
Fact-checking (or lack thereof) wasn’t even Erdely’s most atrocious journalistic crime. She didn’t speak with any of the fraternity members involved in the alleged attack. She explained later that she didn’t feel the need to — she found the subject of her story, Jackie, a University of Virginia student, to be extremely credible. Oh, and she claims: Jackie asked her not to.
Even the Washington Post took Erdely to task:
But for the first 10 days or so after publication, the story sent shock waves throughout the country. Hardly any one publicly doubted the veracity of not only Jackie’s account, but also the unambiguous conclusion from the piece that elite universities are breeding grounds for a culture of rape.
One of the more memorable lines from the piece:
The reaction was swift and fierce from all corners. The university suspended all fraternal activities for the rest of the semester. Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe, the university, the Charlottesville police department, and the fraternity’s national leadership called for or launched investigations. Alumni have threatened to withhold donations. The fraternity was vandalized with graffiti. Students held rallies, protests, and created logos updating the Honor Pledge to include prevention of sexual violence. Many in the media pounced on the opportunity to lecture about “UVA’s rape problem.”
Since then, we’ve learned that Erdely has had an agenda all along. According to the Washington Post:
So, for six weeks starting in June, Erdely interviewed students from across the country. She talked to people at Harvard, Yale, Princeton and her alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania. None of those schools felt quite right. But one did: the University of Virginia, a public school, Southern and genteel, brimming with what Erdely calls “super-smart kids” and steeped in the legacy of its founder, Thomas Jefferson.
Erdely’s journalistic negligence is unfortunate, and hopefully Rolling Stone‘s apology will receive as much attention as her original piece. Erdely’s actions are a disservice to all women who are victims of sexual assault. Her zeal to find a story to fit her narrative ended up undermining it.
Whitney Blake is a 2006 graduate of the University of Virginia’s College of Arts & Sciences.
